Minutes

Ad hoc Homelessness Steering Committee

Community Center, April 14, 2011

First Meeting

4:00 – 6:00

Attendance

Saldana, O’Bryon, Rohde, Javna, Parker, Lewis, Voisin (council liaison), Slattery (council liaison) Seltzer (city staff) Reid (city staff)

Absent

Ayars, Everson, Hopkins-Powell

Welcome and Introductions

Mayor Stromberg welcomed the committee members, thanked them for their service and acknowledged the members unable to attend.

Committee members introduced themselves.

Background

Slattery spoke of his interest in the homeless issues even prior to being elected to the City Council.  He commented that homelessness is a complex issue and not one that is solved by any single organization or government.  He expressed homelessness is not a City issue it is a community issue so it was important to him to form a committee of community members to help identify issues and solutions.  Slattery called attention to the committee packets, which include the purpose of the committee and the resolution establishing the committee. 

Public Meeting and Records Law

City Recorder Barbara Christensen distributed a Quick Reference Guide to Oregon’s Public Meetings Law, provided an overview of public meeting law and explained the committee must adhere to public meeting requirements.

Committee members should notify staff if they are unable to attend a meeting.  If a quorum of five people is not able to attend the meeting, the meeting is cancelled and members may not meet.  Members should notify staff if a subcommittee is scheduled so it can be noticed.  Notes should be taken at subcommittee meetings and provided to staff to include in committee packets.

Christensen cautioned committee members not to carry out discussions about the committee work via email because the public does not have access to those emails.

First Steps: meeting format and proposals

The group discussed how it wants to conduct their meetings.  Generally, people agreed there needs to be some meeting structure but not a strict adherence to Roberts Rules.  It was also suggested that the committee strive for consensus and use voting as a last step in the process.

The committee acknowledged that a number of its members may be involved with potential stakeholders and all agreed it was incumbent on the individual committee member to state a potential conflict of interest if they are involved with a stakeholder group who submits a proposal to the committee.

Generally, the committee agreed the format of a proposal would simply be a two-page letter stating the intent of the stakeholder group.  Committee members discussed the criteria they would use to evaluate proposals.  Some felt there did not need to be criteria, others felt there needed to be criteria.  The group discussed how they would cull the submitted proposals and provide feedback to the stakeholders.  It was suggested the committee would first review the written proposal and then if appropriate, invite the stakeholders to present the proposal in person.

The group had a brief discussion about electing a chair.

First steps: outreach

The group discussed how they would let the community know of their work and invite stakeholder groups to submit proposals.

An outreach sub-committee was formed including Saldana, Slattery and Parker.  The subcommittee will draft a “message” and develop a preliminary list of contact.

The group also discussed producing flyers for distribution in the community.

Next meeting dates

The committee agreed to meet on the next two Thursdays, April 21 and April 28 from 4:00 – 6:00.