Meeting Minutes – September 17, 2014

  1. CALL TO ORDER

Heather Ravani, Commission Chair, called the meeting to order at First 5 Marin at 5:37 p.m.

Commissioners Present

Heather Ravani - chair

Bryan Clement

Amy Eisenmann

Sister Joan Hanna – vice chair

Lisa Leavitt MD

Supervisor Katie Rice

Juan Rodriguez

Sparkie Spaeth

Commissioners Excused

David Bonfilio

Staff Present

Trish Brady

Marjorie Delgadillo

Michelle Fadelli

Representatives from the Community

Edgar Hernandez, Mission Athletica

Bonny White, Marin County Free Library

Irina Zeylikovich, Bay Area Discovery Museum

  1. MEETING MINUTES

Heather asked if there were changes, additions or corrections to the commission minutes for the last meeting onJune 18, 2014. No changes were noted.

Motion/Second: Spaeth/Hanna

The minutes of June 18, 2014 were approved.

  1. COMMISSIONER COMMENTS

Sister Joan Hannashared that she attended a great presentation by Kidsdata.org in August (organized by First 5 Marin, via the “Marin Communications Forum.” Heather Ravani also attended and agreed that it was very informative. (Michelle Fadelli distributed examples of the data about Marin County children, available in tables, charts and graphs.) First 5 Marin will begin distributing fact sheets with Kidsdata information to Marin County elected officials on a regular basis.

Heather Ravani acknowledged Sister Joan for her “awesome” opinion editorial on preschool published in the Marin Independent Journal. (see “Getting Children Ready for School and for Life” 9-1-14). This piece was shared on First 5 Marin’s Facebook page and posted on our website.

Dr. Lisa Leavittreported that we had a good meeting with Camille Maben, the executive director of First 5 California. Staff and several commissioners attended. Camille shared some of the recent accomplishments and upcoming efforts of the state commission, and listened to staff and commissioners’ comments about the work of First 5 Marin.

  1. EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S REPORT

Michelle Fadelli, Policy and Communications Manager, presented the executive director’s report for Amy Reisch. In addition to the written report that was distributed in advance, Michelle added that we had two additional visits from First 5 California’s “Hands-on Health Express” van after the July visit to Point Reyes. The van went to Marin City on September 1st for their community picnic on Labor Day, and to the San Geronimo Valley Community Center on September 2nd.

Michelle also provided an update on the success of the Marin Communications Forum. Upcoming meetings include: Office of Assemblyman Marc Levine (September 25th), Email Messaging/Constant Contact (October 23) and Emergency Communications/Napa (November 18).

Marjorie Delgadillo, program assistant for communications, also provided an update on the Spanish Outreach project which had its first meeting through the Forum in May. There was such a strong response from the attendees, that a volunteer leadership group met in July to discuss and plan an ongoing effort with the group. As a result, a follow up meeting was scheduled for September 9th; 75 people attended and stayed for four hours of presentations and small group discussion. The event concluded with the creation of a list of action items to be pursued, with a strong interest in meeting about Spanish media, communications through schools, and presentations to city and county elected officials. An additional meeting was scheduled for October 28th and participants have asked to meet on a bi-monthly basis. Staff is speaking with the Latino Council about co-convening this group as we move forward.

  1. COMMISSION DISCUSSION
  1. Marin Strong Start Update– Commission chair Heather Ravani provided an update about Marin Strong Start, the proposal for a ¼ cent sales tax to fund key programs and services for children, youth and teens in Marin. Heather reported that while efforts were being made to put this measure on the November 2014 ballot, once another measure was approved for the ballot (the Marin Emergency Radio Authority/MERA) it was decided to withhold Marin Strong Start and aim for June 2016. In the meantime, we can develop a communications/education campaign, the coalition can work on fundraising, and we can work with community partners to undertake some of the work envisioned by the Marin Strong Start proposal. (For example, efforts are underway to come up with 18 months of funding for two key programs: expanding the County’s children’s oral health program from one to four days per week and providing additional subsidized child care slots through the Marin Child Care Council.)
  2. Bryan Clement asked for more information about the process and decision to delay the ballot measure.
  3. Supervisor Katie Rice explained that when coalition leaders and county representatives reviewed the poll results, they learned that Marin Strong Start had decent numbers on its own but the numbers declined when the poll asked about both measures (Marin Strong Start and MERA) being on the ballot at the same time. The poll indicated that both measures could fail if placed on the ballot together. And a very difficult decision had to be made.
  4. Heather added that First 5 Marin has been supporting MarinKids, which has conducted most of the administrative/leadership work for Marin Strong Start. Sparkie Spaeth asked whether there was additional support for MarinKids from other organizations.
  5. Katie noted that “Marin Promise” (an organization focused on outcomes in education) is looking at a public-private model for fundraising, and that MarinKids needs to access private dollars as we move forward.
  6. Juan Rodriguez added that he has never seen anything like the coalition-building efforts undertaken for Marin Strong Start, and the broad consensus among so many diverse participants is very impressive.

Commissioners asked for an update on MarinKids and Marin Strong Start at the October commission meeting, and afterplanned presentations/action with the Board of Supervisors. Also, staff was asked to arrange a presentation on Marin Promise for the November meeting.

  1. 0-to-3 Summary – this item was held for the October agenda.
  1. Theory of Action Reporting Summary – Staff and commissioners reviewed the report, “Implementing our Theory of Action: Highlights FY 2013-14, Commission and Staff Reporting,” prepared by jdcParternships. This report is the first part of our annual evaluation based on our Strategic Plan. The report focuses on the role commissioners hold in implementation and impact of First 5 Marin’s efforts. The report reviews our work in cultivating champions and advocates to build public and political will, with a focus on public policy advocacy, public education, partnerships for change and grassroots capacity building.

Evaluation presentations will continue in October and November.

  1. Legislative Update – Michelle Fadelli presented the final legislative report for the 2014 session. Of the bills that First 5 Marin has been following, only the following were approved by the Legislature and sent to the Governor for action:
  • AB 357 (Pan) – Children’s Health Advisory Board
  • AB 505 (Nazarian) – Medi-Cal Language Assistance
  • AB 1174 (Bocanegra) – Virtual Dental Health Clinics
  • AB 1444 (Weber) – Mandatory Kindergarten
  • AB 1559 (Pan) – Newborn Screening
  • AB 1710 (Weber and Buchanan) – Full Day Kindergarten
  • AB 1819 (Hall) – Daycare Smoking Prohibition
  • SB 1002 (DeLeon) – Medi-Cal/CalFresh application streamlining
  • SB 1174 (Lara) – Repeal of Prop. 227 (English Language Instruction)

Of these bills, First 5 Marin had taken support positions on: AB 1444, AB 1559, and AB 1819. Michelle will draft letters to the Governor to communicate our support; Amy will sign on behalf of the commission.

  1. ADJOURNMENT – Heather Ravani adjourned the meeting at 6:45 p.m.
  1. NEXT SCHEDULEDMEETING:

Wednesday, October 15, 2014

5:30 p.m.

First 5 Marin conference room

1050 Northgate, Suite 130, San Rafael, CA