Commission on Human Needs Minutes - 02/19/2001 COMMISSION ON HUMAN NF I CLERK'S OFFICE
MINUTES OF MEETING DateFebruary 19, 2001By � _T9me
Today's meeting is a regularly scheduled meeting of the Commission on Human Needs. The
meeting was convened in the City of Wichita Falls City Council Conference Room. Attendance
was as followed:
Present Staff Liaison
Keith Cupples David Goodrich
Kirby Haskins
Cheryl Krause
Marisa Maldonado
Dennis Marquardt
Katherine Phillips Absent
Kay Geurin Vickie Tanner
J.D. Jamar Bob McBee
Rita Vokes Brent Walker
Veronica Moody
Penny Miller
David Coddington
Steve Young
1. Call to Order
Item 1. Ms. Penny Miller called the commission to order at 4:54 pm by a Quorum. The
18 January minutes were approved with two minor administrative corrections.
The following items were discussed:
2. Old Business
Item 1. Committee on Aging-Ms. Kay Geurin said her committee had not met and her
committee is currently reviewing, prioritizing goals, and they're trying to
formulate a new action plan.
Item 2. Committee on the Disabled—Ms. Marisa Maldonado said her committee is
reviewing the automated information listing resources on the city's WebPages to
determine which directions to go. To view what's on the web go to the city's
WebPages and start at" Mayor's Board"then click on "Board and Commission."
Additionally, Mr. Goodrich has requested that all commission members formulate
information to add to the city's web page. Request for additions to the City's
WebPages are to be made through Mr. Vanderver of the City's Pubic Information
Office.
Commission on Human Needs (continued)
Item 3. Committee on the Status of Women—Ms. Rita Vokes said her domestic
violence sub committee member were making huge advances:
a. Seminar of Domestic Violence-She said a group from Dallas has been
contacted and they're willing to hold a seminar for education and training
for the city personnel for a fee. This seminar is tentatively scheduled for
the fall time frame.
b. Work with the Wichita Falls Police Department (WFPD)-Her
committee is continuing to work with Wichita Falls police department.
She said WFPD needs (35mm) cameras are needed in all of their family
violence kits in the WFPD Squad cars. The cameras are needed to provide
case evidence. Currently there are 90 cars and only a few cameras for the
entire fleet. WFPD does not have money in their budget to fund additional
cameras. She said members of her committee are looking into grants for
the purchase of 100 cameras at approximately $25-$40.00 each. She
asked if the City would permit fundraisers by her committee members in
order to purchase new additional cameras. Mr. Goodrich will research the
legality of a fundraiser and provide a report at the next meeting
Item 4. Committee on Human Needs—Mr. David Coddington said his committee had
not met yet. His committee will meet and report by the next meeting.
Item 5. The Needs Assessment survey (NAS) for Wichita Falls and the surrounding
areas-
a. Description of Survey-Ms. Penny Miller said the NAS is tentatively
scheduled to begin the end of February. The cost of the assessment is
$60,000.00. The survey will be conducted during a 20-minute phone survey
from random zip codes/socioeconomic areas. It's scheduled to last
approximately 2 months with the compilations and review to take 6 weeks
more.
b. Purpose of Survey-It's designed to identify community needs and services
that require additional funding and support.
c. Contribution of Human Needs Commission Members:
(1) Minority Representation at NAS Planning Meeting-Penny Miller said
there was a NAS planning meeting that had no community minority
(African American, Hispanic etc.) representation. Members of the
commission were concerned that the validity of the ($60,000.00 survey)
NAS would be in question without input from all of the concerned
community activities. Ms. Miller will look into this and report her
findings at the next meeting.
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• Commission on Human Needs (continued)
(2) NAS Domestic Violence Forum-Ms. Miller said the NAS planning
committee wanted to have an information forum on domestic violence.
She asked Ms. Vokes to see if actual victims would be willing to sit on
panel. Ms. Vokes will begin to make necessary arrangements and provide
an update at the next meetings.
(3) Dissemination of NAS Information to WF -Mr. Keith Cupples agreed to
disseminate information concerning NAS to the clergy in the Wichita
Falls. Ms. Miller said she would contact him later about the dissemination
of NAS information.
3. New Business:
Item 1. Leadership Awareness Training —Ms. Katherine Phillips introduced the
Leadership Wichita Falls' Cultural Awareness training to the commission. The
training is scheduled for the 6th of March 2001 in the Martin Luther King Center
at 5:00 P.M. A general discussion of Leadership Wichita Falls' program occurred
with the program being praised as being very informative and valuable to the
participants. The cost for the entire program is approximately $600. There are
some scholarships available.
Item 2. Administering of the Oath of Office-Newly appointed and previously
appointed commission members present received the oath of office. In a group
format they received a copy of the oath and swore or affirmed their position on
the commission.
4. Adjournment:
Item 1. There being no further business, a motion to adjourn was made and seconded.
The motion to adjourn was unanimous. The committee adjourned at 5:50 P.M.
Item 2. The next meeting will be held on March 19, 2001 at 5:00 P.M. in the City
Council Conference Room.
Kirby C. Haskins Ms. Penny Miller
Secretary Chairperson
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