Garrett County Commission for Women
January 3, 2017 (Postponed from December 6, 2016)
Minutes
CALL TO ORDER: Judy Carbone called to order the January 3, 2017 meeting of the Garrett County Commission for Women (GCCW) at Garrett College, McHenry, MD.
ATTENDANCE:
Robin McGill
BJ Gallagher
Judy Carbone
Sherri Fredlock
Linda Carr
Maureen Myers
Krista Huber
Jeannette Fitzwater (via phone)
PLEDGE: Robin McGill led the Pledge to the Flag.
MINUTES: Minutes from the October 4, 2016 meeting were approved as submitted.
NOMINATION OF KRISTAL HUBER TO THE COMMISSION: The GCCW Members voted to recommend Kristal to the Board of Commissioners for appointment to GCCW. Linda Carr will write the letter to the Commissioners. Kristal will be the 12th member of the commission, bringing us up to our minimum number required.
TREASURER’S REPORT: The current balance in the account is $4,144.73. The check for annual stipend from the County Commissioners has been received and was deposited. They did award us the increased amount as requested for a total of $3,000 (a $500 increase from previous years). Sherri has completed all forms for new bank and ordered checks (cost of $32.85). All officers will be signators on the account. A motion was made, seconded and was carried to accept the Treasurer’s Report. We need to find out the deadline for next year’s budget request; Judy will ask Terri for the date so we can discuss at next meeting.
OLD BUSINESS:
Maureen Myers has been approved by the County Commissioners. She and Judy Carbone attended the meeting in person for introductions, a precedent Judy hopes we can set for future appointees as well.
Judy reviewed the by-laws and Maryland Commission documents to clarify our New Member Recruitment Protocol. For email voting, unanimous response and consent is required, which is why the vote for Kristal’s nomination was delayed until today.
We are still working on Officer Job and Committee Descriptions. BJ asks that all members provide input so we can have a working document. She will send out the link for the google document she created so that we can all review and amend as necessary. As per our by-laws, GCCW is required to have the following committees: Education, Scholarship, Legislation, Public Relations, History, By-Laws and Community Service. In addition, we have added throughout the years committees for the Hall of Fame, Membership, and Mentoring. Jeannette and Robin will head the scholarship committee this year with Jeannette taking over next year. Kitty has agreed to be the Historian, Traci is considering working on Community Service and Maureen will review the By-Laws. Currently, there is no one heading the Education or Public Relations Committee.
On November 22, Judy made a presentation to the County Commissioners about the Maryland Commission for Women Listening Session. Maureen was also in attendance. It was well received although there seemed to be no surprise about the issues identified. Our group still needs to hold a discussion about how to incorporate those findings into our body of work.
Judy attended the MLAW conference on October 22nd as a guest of the Maryland Commission for Women. There she learned about the main legislative issues affecting women that will be highlighted in the 2017 Legislative Session in Annapolis. She shared literature from the event with members. As a member of MLAW, Sherry did vote on priorities to be discussed for this session. She did not have time to share with our memberships but ranked priorities as was discussed in our Listening Session. Because it is our first year of membership, it is a learning process and she hopes to be able to share info with the membership beforehand next year. Judy also attended a Roundtable with representatives from other Maryland counties Women’s Commissions and they discussed challenges each faced and shared ideas. Judy was told requirements for by-laws varied county by county and there were no state mandates. Same for committees…each county could set committees as needed. Robin reported that Ruth Umbel (former president of the GCCW) was nominated to the Maryland State Women’s Hall of Fame. Mary Garrett, a deceased historical woman from Garrett County, is among the winners selected by the MCW. Other things discussed that Judy felt could be helpful to our commission were a possible Women of Tomorrow Award for students, an orientation handbook for new commission members, and more involvement with other women related events to learn more about issues facing Garrett County women and to increase our visibility within the county, including a possible social media strategy. Judy also announced that on January 29th the Women’s Commission for Montgomery County will be holding a Legislative Issues Gathering. She will share link in case anyone is interested in attending.
As recorded in past minutes, a discussion of a possible public session on women’s issues as related to fracking was tabled twice. Judy recommended that the item be taken from the agenda at this time. This was agreed upon by other commission members.
COMMITTEE REPORTS:
HALL OF FAME: BJ and Judy talked with Dutch’s and reserved the downstairs area for our annual breakfast which will be held on Saturday, April 29th of this year. An updated application will be available on the website soon with copies sent to individual members. Linda will send out a press release requesting potential nominees. Deadline for submissions will be March 31st. Although we have had historical figures nominated in the past, the general consensus of the group is that we would prefer to give the award to somebody still active in our community. It was discussed that maybe in 2018, we could add a fourth inductee, somebody deceased that made a great contribution or historical figure. Sherry reported that Helbig Jewelers had informed her last year that the bowls we traditionally gave to each Hall of Fame inductee were becoming more difficult to engrave. They recommended we look for a different gift to give and the group gave Sherry permission to research that. She has graciously agreed to cover the cost of this as she has done in past years.
EDUCATION: No Report.
SCHOLARSHIP: Robin asked the group how many scholarships we would like to award for 2017 and for how much. Last year we awarded four $500 scholarships. It was suggested we make it five (5) $500 scholarships in light of the increased funding from our Commissioners. A motion was made, seconded and carried unanimously that GCCW would award five $500 scholarships for 2017. Robin has updated the application and BJ will upload onto the website. She will update the fliers and send to members for distribution. Copies will also be available at the courthouse, local libraries, and in the Garrett College Financial Aid office. Deadline will once again be March 31st and winners will be recognized at the Hall of Fame breakfast. Linda will work on a press release for local publications and members will also be asked to share the info on their personal social media sites. Robin and Jeanette have generously offered to cover the cost of our scholarship winners to attend the brunch.
LEGISLATION: No report.
WEB: BJ will add new Scholarship applications and nomination forms as well as update information.
PUBLICITY: No report.
MEMBERSHIP: No report. We need an updated list of current terms. Judy will ask Terri Riley for that so we can keep up on nominations. Linda and Kristal recommended Lisa Thayer Welch as a potential new commissioner. Linda will contact and invite to our next meeting. BJ recommended a student at Northern High, Haley Ross, as a potential member.
MENTORING: No report.
HISTORIAN: No report.
NEW BUSINESS:
Judy brought up the idea of a Strategic Planning Session again, something apart from our regularly scheduled meetings where we could really take some time to look at issues and develop a plan of action and potential budget. It was agreed that we needed a separate time with the women agreeing to a Saturday morning or afternoon session (four hours maximum). Judy will send an online poll to determine which date will work for the majority of women. The goal is to hold this planning session before the Hall of Fame breakfast.
NEXT MEETING: The next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, February 7, 2017 from 5:00 – 6:30 p.m. at Garrett College in GIEC Room 127. ****NOTE NEW LOCATION****
ADJOURNMENT: The meeting was adjourned at 6:40 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Linda Carr
Secretary