EQUAL EMPLOYMENT ADVISORY COMMITTEE
THURSDAY, JANUARY 3, 2008
6:00 – 7:00 P.M.
CONFERENCE ROOM 410B
CIVIC CENTER, SAN RAFAEL, CA
Minutes
- CALL TO ORDER/ ROLL CALL
The meeting was called to order at 6:05 by Chair, T.Corde
PresentAbsent
M. CohenM. Hoover
M. Cividanes
G. Pegelow
T. Corde
R. Barber
Y. Miranda
II.APPROVAL OF TENTATIVE AGENDA Pegelow/Barber m/s/p
III.APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF NOVEMBER 13, 2007 MEETING
Two changes were requested. 1) Change the spelling of Chavez to Martin Schaff.
2) Remove last line at the top of page 2.
Motion to approve minutes as amended. Pegelow/Barber m/s/p
IV.OPEN TIME
No one was there to present during open time.
V.ANNOUNCEMENTS
A meeting has been scheduled with the Personnel Commission for Wednesday, January 9, 2008. The location of the meeting is in Room 401.
T. Corde said that his time is stretched very thin right now. He would like someone else to step in to take over his chair position for the next 45 days. He indicated that he knew everyone else was busy also. There are issues that need to be dealt with on the side before the next meeting and he would like someone else to spearhead those issues. R. Barber offered that maybe the duties could be shared instead of one person doing everything. T. Corde said that if the Personnel Commission gives the EEAC permission to conduct a survey, someone would need to spearhead the survey.
M. Cohen began to discuss when department head interviews would be conducted. A. Nicholson suggested that since the Employment Data was gathered for July 2006-June 2007, it is getting stale.
Motion that the statistical data be released now, but that the EEAC would wait to do department head interviews until after the line-staff interviews. Cohen/Barber m/s/p
The Committee members agreed to share responsibility for EEAC tasks until the end of February, when T. Corde would have more available time.
VI.OLD BUSINESS
- Preparation of Written Memorandum for Presentation to Personnel Commission (Action)
- Requesting permission to create and conduct written surveys for distribution to line staff.
Who will we select to be surveyed? The EEAC will select randomly approximately 10% of the employees. R. Barber indicated that County is already overwhelmed with SAP. She volunteered to use her lists of SEIU employees to distribute surveys randomly and collect surveys for all members. Distribution could be based upon union lists. The committee would need to work out something similar with MCMEA, Deputy Sheriffs, Fire, DA, AFSCME, and Nurses-SEIU. R. Barber said that on the 4th Thursday of the month there is a meeting with MCMEA. She would mention this to them at this meeting.
The hope is that this is a paper survey. M. Cohen said that she wanted to ensure that the survey determined whether the assessments around diversity are accurate. G. Pegelow said that he also wanted to look at the workplace environment and see if people felt supported and competent to do the job.
T. Corde wondered whether it would be possible to ask the line-staff the same questions asked of the department heads.
G. Pegelow said that he was seeking perspectives on the work environment, the support of a diverse workplace, and the support of new ideas in the workplace.
The Committee took time to draft the letter for the Personnel Commissions review. The final letter suggested was as follows:
1)After careful thought and consideration, the EEAC has determined that limiting interviews to department heads is insufficient to depict an accurate picture of what is actually happening in the County departments.
- In addition to the in-person department head interviewes, the EEAC respectfully requests permission to create and conduct a random paper survey of 10% of the MarinCounty employees to get a broader view of diversity patterns and workplace issues.
2)The EEAC also requests the opportunity to explore new ways to deepen the counties understanding of the statistics presented by the EEAC each year by looking at other issues relating to diversity in the workplace, such as processes by which the county recruits and hires new staff, and ways the County can improve the workplace environment to foster an atmosphere of respect and acceptance.
Motion to accept this wording for the letter. Pegelow/Barber m/s/p
Members wanted to amend the wording to add this language at the end:
The EEAC hopes that this meeting will be the start of a continuing and meaningful dialogue of these issues.
Motion to accept the amended wording for this letter. Barber/Pegelow m/s/p
Marna will take the questions currently used for Department heads and will adjust them to create a line-staff survey,
- FY 06-07 Annual Report Progress – Department Interviews (Action)
This was voted on under announcements
6:40VII.REPORT FROM CHAIR
Meet in the cafeteria at 8:00 a.m. on Tuesday January 8 to discuss presentation to the Personnel Commission
6:50VIII.REPORT FROM EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OFFICER
A. Nicholson will prepare the EEO data for release. A. Nicholson hired a new MWC staff person who will start soon.
7:00IX.ADJOURNMENT
Motion to adjourn 7:05 p.m. Barber/Pegelow m/s/p