COLUSA-GLENN-TRINITY COMMUNITY ACTION PARTNERSHIP
BOARD OF DIRECTORS’ MEETING MINUTES
Wednesday, March 25, 2015 10:30 a.m.
Thunderhill Raceway, Willows, CA 95988
Members Present: Sandy Bechtold, Bill Burton, Denise Carter, Lora Ceccon, Keith Corum, Donna Dennis, Elizabeth Kelly, John Minniear, Cyndi Montoya, Debbie Moutter, Joanne Overton, Al Schroeder, Steve Soeth, John Vafis, and Rev. Philip Zabell
Members Absent: John Fenley, Minnie Lawrence, Margie Lee and Mark Marshall.
Staff Present: Bill Wathen, David Allee, and Connie Scott
Guest: Kim Vasco, Yassi Lam and Linda Johnson
Quorum Met: Yes
I. Call to Order – Lora Ceccon, Board Vice-Chairman
Meeting called to order at 10:40 a.m.; fifteen present, including one alternate, four absent.
A. Introductions – All
B. Read the CAP pledge – All
II. Requests by Members of the Public to Address the Board – Lora Ceccon, Board Vice-Chairman (Pursuant to Section 54954.3 of the Ralph Brown Act) – None heard.
III. Administrative Business/Housekeeping – Staff and Board
A. Meeting Notice and Posting Date – Lora Ceccon, Board Vice-Chairman
Postings confirmed as required by 1994 Brown Act. Staff confirmed documents were posted/mailed March 10, 2015.
B. Agenda Additions - None
C. Approval of December 3, 2014 Agenda – Lora Ceccon, Board Vice-Chairman – Action
Recommendation to approve- D. Moutter/S. Soeth - Unanimous
D. Approval of September 24, 2014 Minutes – Lora Ceccon, Board Vice-Chairman – Action
Recommendation to approve – S. Soeth/S. Bechtold – Unanimous
E. Approval of March 25, 2015 Agenda – Lora Ceccon, Board Vice-Chairman – Action
Recommendation to approve – J. Overton/Rev. Phil Zabell – Unanimous
F. Approval of December 3, 2014 Minutes - Lora Ceccon, Board Vice-Chairman – Action
Recommendation to approve – J. Minniear/D. Moutter – Unanimous
G. Report on Colusa Local Committee Breakout:
1. Colusa County
· Nomination/Election of 2015 County Chairperson – Action
Elizabeth Kelly was elected Chairperson for Colusa County
· Review/Approve Term Extension – Action
The term extensions for Lora Ceccon and Minnie Lawrence were approved.
H. Nomination/Election of 2015 Officers - Lora Ceccon, Board Vice-Chairman – Action
Nomination of Denise Carter for CAP Board Chairperson, J. Overton/P. Zabell. Move to close the nomination S. Soeth/S. Bechtold. Unanimous. Recommendation to approve Denise Carter as CAP Board Chairperson, D. Moutter/S. Bechtold. Unanimous.
Nomination of Lora Ceccon for CAP Vice Chairperson, S. Soeth/D. Moutter. J. Minniear/D. Moutter moved to close the nomination. M/S, D. Moutter/S. Bechtold to approve the nomination. Unanimous.
Nomination of Rev. Phil Zabell as CAP Board Secretary, D.Moutter/D. Carter. Move to close the nomination – E.Kelly/J. Minniear. Motion to approve. D. Carter/E. Kelly. Unanimous.
I. Review/Discussion of 2015 Calendar, CAP Board and Local Meeting Locations and Frequency – Action.
Sandy Bechtold noted that the June meeting is scheduled for Trinity County, but at this time, with restaurant closures, it will be hard to find a venue for the meeting. She suggested we have the June meeting in Colusa County, and have the September meeting in Trinity County. John Minniear moved we switch the meetings accordingly. M/S B. Wathen/J. Minniear. Unanimous. David Allee added that we will need to have a May meeting to present materials to the CAP Board for the June 30, 2015 deadline of the CAP plan. He also suggested that we may need to do more than four meetings per year, to comply with the requirements set forth in the CAP plan. Bill said to avoid increased meeting costs, we will research the feasibility of conference calls in lieu of monthly meetings, and continue doing a quarterly meeting with all in attendance.
IV. Executive Director’s Report - Staff
Bill Wathen announced that Scott Gruendl had resigned/retired, and on March 31, 2015, the Board of Supervisors for Glenn County will name an interim director. At this time, the four Deputy Directors are covering their own duties and a portion of the Director’s duties, until the interim director comes on board. Bill is the deputy over Community Action and the CAP Board.
A. Fiscal Report/Funding – Bill Wathen
Bill reviewed the Stop Light report, noting most programs are on track. He did point out that the Community Service Block Grant (CSBG) has been extended to May 31, 2015 due to under-expenditure. The Westside Domestic Violence Shelter recently received a Blue Shield grant for $167,000 for marketing and development. Bill noted the shelter has a shortfall of approximately $60,000 per year. There have been many maintenance issues with the shelter, such as replacing the septic and HVAC systems and repairing the pump portion of the well and capping off another well. David Allee mentioned that we have a CalWORKS agreement to help with issues at the shelter. Elizabeth Kelly added that Glenn and Colusa counties both recently applied for housing support grants, but did not receive the award. No county above Yolo County received the grant.
B. Staffing/Personnel – Bill Wathen
In the Housing and Rehabilitation Department, Bill said they will be recruiting for a Public Service Employee (PSE) to help with ongoing projects. Community Action employees are stable. Positions have been reclassified and wages are now aligned with the rest of the agency. Joanne Overton asked for a chart of HHSA employees and what they do. Joanne still has problems with the telephone system, and hopes this can be remedied soon.
Joanne gave a brief history of CAP for our new board member from Trinity County. Pastor Phil Zabell asked about the status of Community Action on a nation-wide basis. Bill responded that Community Action is changing, and part of our CAP plan is our guideline for CAP’s future. Pastor Phil feels we have lost some of our connections with Sacramento and Washington D.C. Elizabeth Kelly said we used to be more connected with Cal-Neva, and attended bi-monthly meetings at Sacramento. She feels that not having a deputy for Community Action has hurt us. Joanne added that we have not had a director that went to Washington D.C. like former Director Kim Gaghagen used to do. David Allee mentioned there has been a lot of “re-work” at the state level. David has been attending state meetings and sits on a statewide work group for Community Action that is developing the fifty organizational standards for the CAP plan. Bill and his Community Action staff meet every two weeks, and also mentioned that grants are being actively pursued. David mentioned that Cal-Neva has a new director and is now called Cal Capa (Community Action Partnership Association), and now includes Hawaii as well as Nevada.
David Allee announced that Connie Scott has been hired as the new Employment & Training Worker I/II for the WIA program.
C. Emerging State/Federal Issues – David Allee
David notified the CAP Board that CSBG is not having its $674,000,000.00 budget cut for 2016 by the federal government. This is a change, as the Obama administration has cut CSBG in the past. There is also an upward mobility project that allows up to ten communities or states or consortiums to combine funds from up to four different existing block grants: CSBG, Social Services Block Grant, Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) from HUD and the HOME program. Both the House and Senate have not specified exact funding amounts for CSBG at this time. Paul Ryan, now the Chairman for the Ways and Means committee, has been contacted by David Bradley, the “chief voice” and original author of Community Action, to educated Mr. Ryan about the effectiveness of CSBG in fighting poverty. Paul Ryan is now a fan of CSBG.
D. Communications Received –Bill Wathen
Bill mentioned that our rates for the A87 fund have been significantly reduced due to two large Workers Compensation claims dropping off our records. These were claims from 2006-2007. This is one of the areas that grants take in to consideration for administrative overhead.
V. Program Reports – Staff
David Allee reviewed the 2014-2015 WIA report. STARRS and the youth program benchmarks are met or will soon be met, and the other programs will be met by deadline. In the twelve years David has managed the program, they have always met WIA benchmarks. Our Community Action Agency does not have an obligation or authority over any other county other than Glenn County for WIA. John Minniear mentioned the need for advertising our programs, such as the One Stop. David said we recently ran a quarter page ad for dislocated workers in a local newspaper. Elizabeth Kelly wanted to know if Craig’s List had been considered as an advertising source for WIA. The Consortium does maintain a website and has a job function that links to all of the four One Stops. Lora Ceccon mentioned they participate in job fairs to get the word out. Linda Johnson, WIA supervisor, mentioned that from the quarter page ad, they received twenty seven phone calls and enrolled eleven of those who called. When asked for the definition of a dislocated worker, David Allee responded that the funding source defines a dislocated worker is one who has been layed off and is unlikely to return to work because the trade or job they had is not available, or has been subject to a plant closure or is a displace homemaker. Elizabeth Kelly spoke of the need Colusa County has for Eligibility Workers. She negotiated with Merit Systems, the state Personnel board for small counties in the state, and asked for a waiver on the testing for the position. They did mandatory orientation in lieu of the testing. There were seventy applicants eligible, and thirty participated in the orientation. She decided to interview all thirty applicants, in order to fill five slots.
Bill briefly reviewed the LiHEAP projections handout, noting it is cheaper to do work in Glenn County than in Trinity County. Bill received $288,000.00 more in funds for our three counties due to negotiations with the state. Sandy Bechtold mentioned that they received notice that only 250 clients will be served per quarter. Bill said they are negotiating with the state to be able to address the need as opposed to where the state wants the money spent. Those who were rejected the first quarter will have to resubmit a portion of the paperwork for the next quarter’s allotment.
Kim Vasco from Colusa County presented a report on the homeless point in time count performed the last week in January of 2015 in all of the counties that are known as the Dos Rios Continuum of Care. Kim distributed a summary sheet of the data collected during the survey. There are eight counties in the Consortium-Colusa, Glenn, Trinity, Lake, Tehama, Lassen, Plumas and Sierra. All but Sierra and Lassen participated in the count. Shortly after the point in time count was taken, we requested from HUD that we reorganize to a three county continuum of care. The continuums of care are formed to focus on the needs of the homeless in our counties. Kim pointed out that Lake County had the largest count, and they make a concerted effort to report on their large homeless population. Our staff was sent out to seek out the homeless for the count. The median age was between 44-55 years of age, and most of the homeless were white, and are not Veterans. For scheduling purposes in future years, the point in time count takes place in the last week of January.
Pastor Phil Zabell asked about the status of the Dos Rios consortium. Bill Wathen answered that not all eight counties were participating financially. The brunt of the work was taken care of by Community Action-Bill, an HHSA staff member, Kim Vasco, and Kim’s supervisor. With that in mind, HHSA decided to withdraw from the COC. Currently there are no funds available in the COC. In the meantime, HUD has been notified that we would like to become a three county consortium, matching the efforts of our CAP. Christine Zoppi and Margie Lee from Trinity County, Bill, Shane Anderson and Luz Melgarejo from Glenn County and Kim Vasco, Elizabeth Kelly and Lora Ceccon from Colusa County have been asked to head this up. We will put a government’s charter in place and we will establish standards for Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) and procurement. We will structure this like a business. Plumas County would like to partner with us in the continuum. This will be an item for future consideration. Elizabeth Kelly asked when the three county continuum would be in a position to apply for funding, and Bill responded that the fall will be our first opportunity. When asked by Pastor Phil, Bill commented that the continuum does not have to be tied to the CAP board, but ours does tie in due to those who are participating on both boards.
VI. Presentation – CAP Plan, David Allee, Program Manager, Community Action
A. Review of CAP Plan, process and timeline, due June 30, 2015 – Action
David Allee distributed a packet of information on the CAP Plan. As a public entity, we have fifty organizational standards that we must meet to comply with the CAP plan, and this information is due June 30, 2015. The list David presented showed thirteen items we feel we have not met and need to be addressed prior to the June 30th deadline.
David presented a Power Point presentation to follow the hand-out that was distributed. Prior to the two year plan being submitted in June, there needs to be a public hearing and formal acceptance of the plan by the CAP board. We are hoping to have this accomplished in May, hence the need for a May meeting. In order for this to happen, we have to have conducted a community needs assessment in each county. Once the plan has been accepted by the CAP Board, it has to go before the Glenn County Board of Supervisors for acceptance as well. Motion was made to hold a May 20th meeting in Glenn County M/S P. Zabell/E. Kelly. Unanimous. It was suggested we do not provide lunch. A document will be presented to the board for approval. Cyndi asked about the timeline for the needs assessment, and David suggested that the counties strive to complete those in the month of April, to be ready for May approval.