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HomeMy WebLinkAbout04-20-16 Agenda PacketVirginia Beck Chair Jenai Yoshii Vice Chair Suzanne Ellis Secretary Sharon Lasker Treasurer 016 APR 12 All :17 Members: Kathy Crowell Edie Ignacio - Neumiller Liza Cabal- Trinidad Erika Valente Lisa Ellen Smith HSCSW Representative/ Ex- Officio COUNTY OF KAUA'I COMMITTEE ON THE STATUS OF WOMEN NOTICE OF MEETING AND AGENDA Wednesday, April 20, 2016 5:00 p.m. or shortly thereafter Mo`ikeha Building, Meeting Room 2A/2B 4444 Rice Street, Linu`e, HI 96766 CALL TO ORDER • Approval of minutes for March 16, 2016 FISCAL REPORTS RECAP OF THE APRIL EQUAL PAY DAY MAYORAL PROCLAMATION BUSINESS CSW 2015 -06 Discussion and possible decision - making on current and future Committee events • Rise of the Film Wahine Event ■ A one -time showing of the film Miss South Pacific in place of the Rise of the Wahine film event (Deferred on 3/16/16) CSW 2015 -07 Update from State Commissioner Lisa Ellen Smith on the 2016 National Association of Commissions for Women Conference held on Oahu from July 16 -21, 2016, and other pertinent legislative updates ■ Request for consideration to allow Chair Virginia Beck to apply online on behalf of the committee to become voting members at the National Association of Commissions Conference An Equal Opportunity Employer CSW 2016 -01 Discussion and possible decision - making on partnering with other non - profit organizations that share the same mission statement as the Committee on the Status of Women CSW 2016 -05 Copy of a written testimony dated March 20, 2016 from the Committee on the Status of Women to the Honorable Senate President Ronald Kouchi, in support of S.B. No. 2313/sd2 — Relating to Equal Pay ANNOUNCEMENTS • Next regular scheduled meeting — May 18, 2016, at 5:00 p.m. at the Mo`ikeha Building, Meeting Room 2 A/B. • The next Empowerment Workshop titled "Make your Own Way" will be held on Tuesday, April 26, 2016 from 5:30 — 6:30 p.m. at the YWCA Women's Facility in Lieu` e • Denim Day Proclamation on Sexual Assault Awareness 12 p.m. on Wednesday, April 27, 2016 at the Mo'ikeha Building - Rotunda EXECUTIVE SESSION Pursuant to Hawaii Revised Statutes, H.R.S. §92 -7(a), the Committee may, when deemed necessary, hold an Executive Session on any agenda item without the written public notice if the Executive Session was not anticipated in advance. Any such Executive Session shall be held pursuant to H.R.S. §92 -4 and shall be limited to those items described in H.R.S. §92 -5(a). Discussions held in Executive Session are closed to the public. ADJOURNMENT cc: Deputy County Attorney and Ex- Offico Mahealani Krafft PUBLIC COMMENTS and TESTIMONY Persons wishing to offer comments are encouraged to submit written testimony at least 24 -hours prior to the meeting indicating: 1. Your name and if applicable, your position/title and organization you are representing; 2. The agenda item that you are providing comments on; and 3. Whether you will be testifying in person or submitting written comments only. 4. If you are unable to submit your testimony at least 24 hours prior to the meeting, please provide 10 copies of your written testimony at the meeting clearly indicating the name of the testifier; and Committee on the Status of Women — April 20, 2016 21 P a g e While every effort will be made to copy, organize and collate all testimony received, materials received on the day of the meeting or improperly identified may be distributed to the members after the meeting is concluded. The length of time allocated to persons wishing to present verbal testimony may be limited at the discretion of the chairperson or presiding member Send written testimony to: Committee on the Status of Women C/o Office of Boards and Commissions 4444 Rice Street, Suite 150 Lhu`e, HI 96766 E -mail: mromo ,kauai.gov Phone: (808) 241 -4920 Fax: (808) 241 -5127 SPECIAL ASSISTANCE If you need an alternate format or an auxiliary aid to participate, please contact the Office of Boards and Commission Support Clerk at (808) 241 -4920 at least five (5) working days prior to the meeting. Committee on the Status of Women — April 20, 2016 3 1 P a g e Kaua` i County Committee on the Status of Women Meeting Minutes of March 16, 2016 The regular meeting of the Committee on the Status of Women was held at the Mo' ikeha Building in Meeting Room 2A/2B. The following members were present: Virginia Beck, Chair Jenai Yoshii, Vice Chair Sharon Lasker, Treasurer Kathy Crowell Edie Ignacio - Neumiller Erika Valente Lisa Ellen Smith, Ex- officio, IiSCSW Commissioner Excused Suzanne Ellis Liza Cabal- Trinidad Also present: Boards and Commissions Support Staff: Mercedes Omo Support Clerk and Deputy County Attorney Mahealani Krafft. CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order at 5:00 p.m. APPROVAL OF THE MEETING MINUTES FOR FEBRUARY 17, 2016. Chair Beck: The first thing we need to do is approve the meeting minutes of February 17, 2016. Were there any corrections? Ms. Ignacio- Neumiller: I move to approve. Ms. Lasker: I second. Chair Beck: Great. All those in favor, please signify by saying aye. Opposed? Hearing none. The motion carries 6:0 to approve the meeting minutes of February 17, 2016. PUBLIC TESTIMONY There was no testimony. Page 1 of 25 2015/2016 FISCAL REPORT FOR THE COMMITTEE'S STATE GRANT FUNDING AND COUNTY BUDGET Chair Beck: I would like to entertain a motion to defer the 2015/2016 Fiscal Report to the next meeting in April. Ms. Ignacio- Neumiller: So moved. Ms. Lasker: Second. Chair Beck: Edie made the motion and Sharon seconded it. All those in favor, please signify by saying aye. Opposed? Hearing none. The motion carries 6:0. Do we actually have a copy of the fiscal report? Ms. Omo: Yes, I'm just waiting for a receipt from one of your vendors so I can update the fiscal report the state grant funding budget. BUSINESS 2015 -06 Chair Beck: Okay. Thank you. So moving onto the first event, which is the Rise of the Wahine film. I would like to postpone the discussion because there is a possibility that Teresa Tico may be here. She's going to try to make it back from the Big Island so I would like to postpone the matter until she gets here because it would be useful to have her participate in the conversation. Okay, so let's move onto the Recap of the 2016 Career Day event. Chair Beck: The event was amazing. Ms. Crowell: It was amazing. Chair Beck: Everyone was blown away. The speakers said they enjoyed it and that they loved concept of moving from table to table to meet the girls. So we can declare the event a success. Ms. Smith: Chair, I have copies of the student's evaluations that I would like to pass around. Based on my quick review they were overwhelmingly positive. I just wanted to note that for the record. Chair Beck: Speaking about the evaluations, do you want to provide copies to the counselor from Kapa`a High School? Ms. Yoshii: Yes, she did ask me if she could have copies of the evaluations so I'm assuming that we can send the copies by email because she did ask me for it especially the positive ones. Chair Beck: What I think would be helpful is if someone could volunteer to go through each evaluation and create a summary of the different comments especially the positive ones. Page 2 of 25 And as for the negative ones there is always room for improvement so when we plan for next year's event at least we will have the information. Is someone here willing to volunteer to do that? Ms. Yoshii: I'll do it. Chair Beck: Okay, Jenai will go over the evaluations. Deppjy County Attorney Krafft: Chair, my apologies for interrupting but what type of information contained in the evaluations will be released? Chair Beck: Please include the name of the students and the school they belong to as well as their comments on whether they liked it or not. My feelings all along was that we should give the evaluations back to the schools and let them handle it. Depu ty County Attorney Krafft: Chair, I may have privacy concerns. Chair Beck: The counselors already knows the names of the girls because they supplied the names to us. But if you feel that it's a privacy issue we could shred them... Ms. Yoshii: Is your privacy issue about sending the evaluations back to the counselors or another sort? Depu County Attorney Krafft: Will you be sending the entire set of evaluations to the different schools? Chair Beck: No. Ms. Yoshii: To make things clear, the evaluations pertaining to the Kapa`a students will be send to their counselor and not to the counselor from Waimea High School. Chair Beck: Thank you for clarifying that. Ms. Ignacio- Neumiller: Did anyone see the March issue of the For Kauai publication? Ms. Yoshii: Yes. Chair Beck: Yes, we were very blessed because they gave us an excellent story. Ms. Ignacio- Neumiller: And they gave us an ad. Ms. Smith: They didn't give it to us we paid for it. Ms. Lasker: They gave us a discounted rate. Chair Beck: They gave us a much larger ad and they were very supportive. Page 3 of 25 Ms. Lasker: We were lucky because they gave us a 50% discount plus, an additional discount on top of that. Chair Beck: Overall, I think everything turned out really great. The feedback that I got is that for next year, I would like to have the schools assigned to more people because I ended up managing all of the communications for four (4) of the schools, which was pretty overwhelming for me. Next year, we should start early enough so that the people will know what schools they are going to be responsible for. I became overwhelmed by the volume of phone calls and emails that I got in a single day. I actually have another life so I can't always do things in a timely manner so we need to disperse the load evenly so that everyone has one school. For this year we had four (4) high schools .... we went from two (2) schools and eighteen (18) students last year to six (6) schools and forty -eight (48) students this year, which is a major breakthrough. People tell me that they would like to see the whole Jasmine Ballroom filled with more tables, girls and mentors (speakers). Ms. Ignacio- Neumiller: Well, we already have your list of speakers so if we start early as in November we could add to the list and then make a decision on how many speakers we should have and their back -ups. That would be my suggestion. Chair Beck: I think if we start early enough we could recruit the Zonta Clubs, The Rotary's and find people who may be interested in wanting to be mentor. I do like the analogy of speed dating with your future because we are giving the students an opportunity to be with great mentors. Although we had seven (7) table's they weren't entirely full; we had ten (10) people at each of the tables. Maybe next year we can have ten (10) tables and more mentors or speakers. Ms. Yoshii: Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought we were doing that. It's a good point each person should have one school ... get the students... contact the counselors and be responsible for finding a sponsor to help the school. I thought we had that in place initially because it was my responsibility to be the liaison between committee and the Kapa`a High School counselors. Ms. Ignacio- Neumiller: And I believe Liza was the liaison for Kauai High School. Ms. Yoshii: You're right. Ms. Ignacio- Neumiller: And Virginia had the two (2) charter schools. Chair Beck: Yes, and I also had Waimea and Island School and then all of a sudden I had the two (2) the charter schools, which I could hardly say no too. Ms. Lasker: So we need to plan early. Chair Beck: The Kanuikapono Public Charter School was amazing. Their Vice Principal said right off the bat that they were going to pay for our own way and bring their own van, which I thought was very nice. Page 4 of 25 So, if we could pair an organization with a school ... I believe you got Title Guaranty....so if we could get things done early it will eliminate the stress of managing the head count and finding enough funds and so on. Ms. Ignacio- Nuemiller: All we need to do is find a sponsor for each of the different schools. Chair Beck: Right, and there may be other organizations who may want to do that. Another thing, Suzanne told me that she sent out the thank you letters but she's not here; however, I believe it was done. Ms. Yoshii: I mentioned before the meeting started that the Kapa`a High School counselors sent me copies of the thank you letters so I guess now, I'll get in touch with Suzanne for distribution to the speakers. Chair Beck: That sounds wonderful. Is there anything else on this? Are we good with it? Okay, moving onto the recap of the March Women's History Month event. We all agree that the timeline to confirm the speakers as well as meet the media deadline needs to be managed better. I contributed to the media delay because I was trying to finalize the list of speakers that kept falling in and out of the mix. We need to start early so by next January we will at least have the names of all of our speakers and their backups in case something goes wrong. That way no one needs to stress about getting the information out to media in a timely manner. Ms. Valente: I was impressed with the speakers but I'm sad that more people weren't there to hear them. I don't know if there is another way we could have done it differently by having it at another venue or promote it differently. Ms. Ignacio- Neumiller: Talking about the venue ... it's was very windy. Ms. Lasker: The weather was a big factor. Ms. Ignacio- Neumiller: Last year it rained and drizzled... Ms. Lasker: It's March. Ms.Ianacio- Neumiller: Right. Ms. Valente: But still we weren't set -up for ... I mean it's not like we would have hundreds people, which I feel we should be because the speakers were all excellent. It's like something that even the young girls in our community could attend. Do you know if we could do something with our video? I apologize because I had a crazy work week and wasn't able to pull the quotes. We should brainstorm on something because I think it's an excellent opportunity for the community. Page 5 of 25 Ms. Ignacio- Neumiller: Right before the meeting started we talked about having the event here. I mean, we held events here before with different speakers. We could set -up the chairs in the shape of a half -moon. Ms. Lasker: I would like to volunteer the Regency at Puakea activity room because it can hold up to fifty (50) people. Ms. Ignacio- Neumiller: That would be even better. Ms. Valente: We could even have the event at the Kukui Grove Shopping center stage. Chair Beck: That is entirely possible. I can work with you on the video if you want because I have video editing software. Ms. Valente: Yeah. Chair Beck: The other thing is we need a county release for the video and permission from each of the speakers before we do anything with the video so we need to take care of that. I already told the speakers that we would give them a chance to see the video before anything was done with it. Ms. Valente: Okay. Chair Beck: We had one person who said, she didn't want to be in the video so we tried to eliminate her. I told her that we would let her look at video to see if she's comfortable with it and she said she's fine with that. Ms. Valente: Okay. Chair Beck: Actually she was one of the most polished speakers. Ms. Valente: She was. Chair Beck: She was totally prepared. Ms. Valente: I was very impressed. Chair Beck: The other thing I wanted to say is I brought a projector so if we do a video it would no longer be issue because all we need to do is hook it up to a laptop. As for the media deadline we are going to work on an article about the event focusing on the contributions of each speaker so if you all could pull some nuggets together that would be great. I made some mental notes so we could put something together. Also, I'm requesting that the committee draft a certificate of appreciation for Cindy Coombs for coming and sharing her music. She is one of the most outstanding song writers, slack key performer and composers that we have on the island and she has either written or collaborated Page 6 of 25 songs that won the Hanohano Award. Cindy is very shy bird and it would be really great if we could acknowledge her because she's making history even though she doesn't know it. So could I have a motion if you feel it is appropriate? Ms. Ignacio- Neumiller: I move that we draft a certificate of appreciation for Cindy Coombs for her musical contributions to our Women's History Month event. Ms. Crowell: Second. Chair Beck: There is a motion on the floor to draft a certificate of appreciation to Cindy Coombs for her musical contributions to our Women's History Month event. All those in favor, please signify by saying aye, Opposed? Hearing none. The motion carries 6:0. Ms. Crowell: Who will be drafting the certificate? Chair Beck: Is that something that we could draft ourselves? Ms.Omo: Yes. Chair Beck: Okay, good I have the software for that. I'll do it. I'll draft it and I will send it to Mercedes for approval and then we could always invite her to our next meeting and present it to her so she could get a little bit of public relations. Ms. Smith: Are we inviting the press? I mean, it does relate to public relations. Chair Beck: We can talk more about later. We could take a picture of Cindy receiving the certificate and we could invite some of her friends or we could submit her picture with a little insert to the local newspaper. We could write up something and Mary Daubert could post it on the County's Facebook and website. I like it empowering another women. Okay, I will draft the certificate and invite her and will collaborate with our public relations committee. Jenai would you like to speak on the Equal Pay Day Mayoral Proclamation? Ms. Yoshii: I can. Other than the fact that it's set for Tuesday, April 12, at 12:15 p.m. at the Mo' ikeha Building Rotunda, we submitted the paperwork for a mayoral proclamation at the last meeting. So is there anything else we need to do Mercedes? Ms. Omo: No. Ms. Yoshii: No follow -up? Just show -up, okay. Did we do anything last year? Ms. Smith: There was nothing last year. Ms. Yoshii: There was nothing last year. So this is the first... Ms. Smith: No. Page 7 of 25 Ms. Ignacio- Neumiller: 2013 was the last one we did and no food was served. Ms. Yoshii: Okay. I mean because we're looking at around lunchtime. Ms. Ignacio- Neumiller: It is at lunchtime. Chair Beck: Yes, its lunch time but it's a good opportunity to promote the idea more deeply within the community. Ms. Smith: I think we should send another request to Mary Daubert for a press release that way it would go onto the county's website and once it gets on the website it will be sent to every county employee which includes the Prosecutor's Office and the Water Department. Chair Beck: An email blast. Ms. Ignacio- Neumiller: It's also posted on the county's Facebook page. Ms. Smith: Right, so that would be the easiest way for every county employee to see it and say, hey, maybe we should check this out. Ms. Yoshii: So we got three (3) and half weeks. Is there a timeline to get it on the county's website? Chair Beck: We need to get it on the county's website at least ten (10) days before the event. Ms. Smith: We had the Women's History Month posted two (2) days before. Chair Beck: No, the Women's History Month event was posted one week before the event. Ms. Omo: Due to policy change the committee needs to inform the Public Information Officer four (4) weeks before the event occurs. Ms. Yoshii: So we're behind. Ms. Omo: Just a side note, the Mayor's office gets very busy so next the time we need to be on top of things. Ms. Yoshii: Okay, so we're right at four (4) weeks. Do you think we can squeeze it in? Chair Beck: I'll send something that is copy clean to Mary. Lisa Ellen I will be in contact with you because you sent me some information on it. Ms. Smith: No, the information came from Edie. Page 8 of 25 Ms. Ignacio- Neumiller: It was from the Zonta International because they also support the Equal Pay. Also, we should invite all of our friends and tell the world. Ms. Yoshii: We should put it on Facebook. Chair Beck: Yes, tell the world. Oh, we'll tell Ron Wiley and he'll tell the five (5) thousand people. Ms. Ignacio- Neumiller: I'll contact Dennis Fujimoto. Chair Beck: Okay, moving onto the next agenda item. CSW 2015 -07: Update from State Commissioner Lisa Ellen Smith on the 2016 National Association of Commissions for Women Conference held on Oahu from July 16 -21, 2016, and other pertinent legislative updates. Ms. Smith: Okay, real quick, I missed the Commission's meeting on Monday due to the continuation of service for HGEA Unit 13. However, I do have an update (that I just forwarded to Mercedes so she'll send it out tomorrow) on the upcoming NACW Conference in July. The Paid Family Medical Leave bill died because there was not enough people so we have to ... it will come up again next year. Ladies, this is something that makes us a third world country because we don't have Paid Family Medical Leave but unfortunately that's gone. However, the Equal Pay bill did cross over and is still an active. As for Marsy's Law it was heard yesterday; it's a bill on Victim Rights and its look like it will proceed. Again, it is very important that we check the website www.capitol.hawaii.gov to see when the hearings are coming up so we can submit testimony to our legislators so they can make informed decisions. They come across three (3) to five (5) thousand bills per session but do they read? Or have any information on half of them? Not really. It's incumbent upon the public and our organization that we submit written testimony. I can't stress that enough. Ms. Valente: I don't fully understand the process so when they get the bills all five how can the legislators read the testimonies if they don't read the bills? Ms. Smith: If I was a legislator I would be required to read the bills but the testimonies are only submitted forty-eight (48) hours prior to the hearings. It's a very complicated process and I can sit down with you sometime and go through the legislative calendar. We are almost done with the legislative calendar and certain bills have crossed over, and I think we have about a month and half or two (2) months left so whatever bills that was approved by the Senate and House will get voted on and the bills will go to the governor for his signature. The governor has up to (I think) June 30th to decide. I have to look at the legislative calendar which I do not have in front of me but we have about six (6) months or less before the legislative session comes to an end. Ms. Valente: So they have forty -eight (48) hours prior to... Page 9 of 25 Ms. Smith: Probably (inaudible) to the Sunshine Law. It's very different here compared to where I grew up because legislative session last all year long. Chair Beck: Well, I would like to see us do a better job on this. I think it's probably one of our more important functions as a committee. All this other stuff is really nice and empowering but the law is what creates the playing field and the environment where women work and are bound to these laws. Ms. Smith: Exactly. Real quick, as a point of reference the Emergency Contraception bill for rape victims treated at the hospitals went through legislative session for fourteen (14) years, and it didn't pass until (I think) two (2) years ago. We held legislative lobby days where we all went over and met with every single one of our representatives. I went to see our Kauai representatives and the Big Island Commissioner went to see her representatives and we all sat there and said, this is vital for young woman or any woman who is raped that she is given the option to emergency contraception. I'm talking fourteen (14) years of legislative session. As for the Equal Pay Day bill it's still alive but not the Paid Family Medical at least for this year, but we will try again next year and will keep on trying until the bill passes because this is the type of bill that is vital to women is to make things equal. Chair Beck: We could provide some leadership for the community by developing some talking points because the documentation and the language for some of these bills is incomprehensible for the everyday person to follow. Ms. Smith: And I followed some talking points for each of these bills back in December. Chair Beck: What we could do is create an appropriate mechanism to share with our collaborative organizations because one of our roles is to collaborate. I mean, we could farm out the work to all of the different women organizations. There is a lot of brain power in women who have time of their hands. I mean, they could dive right into and tackle it because our role is to be the conduit for providing the access. We can stress to them by saying hey, you have to your testimonies in. Can your organization come up with ten (10) letters? Because if we approached ten (10) organizations and ten (10) of their members wrote letters it would equal to a hundred letters. Ms. Smith: A good example is the testimonies that was written by the seventh (7t') grade class on Equal Pay. You should all read the letters because these kids took the time to write letters to their legislators. So what I'm saying is that the legislators to do read the testimonies. Chair Beck: And even if they don't read it every one personally their assistants will go through each written testimony and record the amount of people who supports the bill and those who oppose it. So, my request is that by the next meeting, everyone should come up a list of three Page 10 of 25 (3) organizations that they would contact to be the conduit for the talking points. There are seven (7) of us multiply that by three (3) makes twenty -one (2 1) organizations, and if each of those organizations can come up with ten (10) letters that would be great and even if they didn't at least it will be the beginning of people hearing that women have the power to make a difference in their lives. Ms. Smith: And they will have a voice. Chair Beck: Yes. Ms. Crowell: So these letters that you are proposing is it in support of Equal Pay or Family Leave? Chair Beck: My vision or idea is that we create a network of organizations who would encourage their members to write letters they think is appropriate. Whether it's for or against at least they will have a say in it. We are not telling them what to write we're just saying that these are the issues ... do you want to provide some input because your legislators would like to know. Ms. Smith: I think what Virginia is saying is good because she's trying to get this to the current legislative session before it starts to wind down but I believe it's for next year's legislative session. Chair Beck: Right. Ms. Smith: But for right now, I think that it's important that we start working on organizing ourselves and our community. I sent out a spreadsheet (email) with information on the different bills. I even updated it right before the crossover. I should have taken more time to update it again, but I got a new job and I was all excited and I this many laws to read. Ms. Yoshii: Thanks for doing that. Ms. Smith: I wanted to update the spreadsheet again, but it takes time and some of the bills died. But the Equal Pay bill and Marsy's Law is still alive and is moving forward. Ms. Crowell: When is hearing for the Equal Pay Bill? Ms. Smith: You can get the information on the state's website www.capitol.hawaii.gov and once there it will give you information on all of the hearing notices dates and time. Chair Beck: Perhaps someone would be willing to go on Renae Hamilton's radio show to talk about what we are trying do which is to build a network of organizations who would ask their members to write letters. As I said before we're not telling them what to say or do all we want to do is increase women awareness and if they don't communicate with their legislators nothing will happen. Page 11 of 25 Ms. Smith: The spreadsheet that Mercedes sent out, please send it to everybody. I sent it to my friends on the Northshore and the Westside to let them know that if they have the time or interest to go through it because these are the bills that are being supported by the Women's Legislative Caucasus, the Kaua` i Committee on the Status of Women and the women legislators. Let them make their own decisions but the spreadsheet is very a very good tool because it encompasses all women's issues. Are there other issues? Oh, my, gosh, there's tons of issues. One of the bills I felt I had to write in opposition to has to do with judicial elections because I don't think that judges should be an elected position in the State. Is it a women's issue, no but I'm going to write a testimony because I care about my community. Besides I don't feel that judges shouldn't be elected so wrote to oppose the bill. All I'm doing is giving them the power and the knowledge to say hey, this is how it's works but it's different in every state. I had to learn and somebody taught me. I actually went to class for this at the Ocean Resources Manager private work group years ago. But you know that's how you learn. Somebody sits down and then goes okay, this is a crossover... this is how these bills are heard ... this is what you do. It's not just 1, 2, and 3. Chair Beck: And by providing the spreadsheets to the high schools they could use it as one of their assignments. Ms. Smith: Right. The testimony that I sent to you guys... Chair Beck: From the seventh graders? Ms. Smith: Yes, from the seventh grade. But that was a writing assignment and the kids wrote what they felt. Cathy Betts the Director of IISCSW ... the kids quoted her and I thought that was adorable because their teacher made them get the ball. But getting our students involved... getting the young women involved is a YEAH! Does that make sense Kathy? Ms. Crowell: Yes. Thank you. Chair Beck: Thank you so much Lisa Ellen for hammering this point home. It was done in a great way because to me this is like one of the key functions that we need to focus more attention on. You know, I think in the early years, and I'm not sure how many years this committee has been in existence... but it just seems to me that in the early years they were more focused on some of the other community aspects and I think the legislative aspect is really important. Women's History Month always makes me remember that the right for women to vote failed two (2) hundred times before it was passed. But the women kept going back and back. Ms. Smith: Like a broken record. Page 12 of 25 Ms. Yoshii: No, it's fine because I think some people don't understand the process. There is an overwhelming amount of information when you look at the spreadsheet and they'll go okay, I'll take some time to get to know it. I think it's about not being familiar with the content and the way it's worded so if we can ... I don't know the answers for that but maybe some informal training... Lisa is an awesome resource but I know how busy she is. Chair Beck: But we have a legislative committee and we can... Ms. Smith: We can always have a public legislative training session in December if that is something you ladies would want to do ... this is how we do this ... this is what's coming up and these are the kind of things. Now, it won't come out until next January on what bills are supported but getting them to do the footwork in time for January is what we have to do ... you just have to sign up and log in. Chair Beck: The important thing to do first is to put the organizations in place so that when we have something we can go to the organizations with that. Which brings us to the next item on our agenda. CSW 2016- 01Discussion and Possible decision - making on partnering with other non - profit organizations in the community that reflect the Committee's mission statement (Deferred on 2/17/16) Chair Beck: Part of our mission statement is to give our input on legislative issues and by partnering with other organizations like the League of Women Voters and the AAUW. There is another women's organization called the University of Extension... what is it called? I don't know, but was I invited to talk to them about medical things. We'll find out what it is. But it's the teachers and they have classes ... they are a structured women's organization with leaders. For example, when I recruited Suzanne to be on our committee I brought someone who was part of an established organization, and when we needed a sponsor we went to her and her organization. On that note, just before I came here, I was requested by the Zonta Club of Hanalei to come to their next meeting to talk about the Committee on the Status of Women. They sounded very interested in the status of women and they were shocked when I told them the meetings were opened to the public so I invited them. So this is what I mean about partnering with other organizations. We can go to them and say okay ladies here is the legislative breakdown and have them host the event. We are not in the business of hosting events; we are in the business of communicating, collaborating, giving input and providing information. So we want them to take it on because they're already in place; like Zonta you guys do beautiful things and the rotaries. So the discussion means other people have input. Is there any discussion? (Laughter) Page 13 of 25 Ms. Valente: I think it's a fabulous idea. Ms. Yoshii: Yes, it's a great idea. Ms. Smith: And part of our mission is to be a warehouse and collaborate with. Chair Beck: Part of the breakdown in fulfilling our mission is we don't have a mechanism in place to make it happen, and not going to happen by committee members just sitting in a room and having a meeting once a month. Ms. Crowell: I'm sorry go ahead and finish. Chair Beck: So, I'm just saying we need to build up a mechanism. Ms. Crowell: I would like to go back one step back to the legislature. I was wondering since the Equal Pay Day proclamation is on April 12 we may have time to write a letter to our legislator's, representatives and Senate President Ronald Kouchi. So, I was wondering, if I could draft the letter. Mercedes can we draft a letter using the committee's letterhead? Ms. Omo: Yes. After you're done drafting the letter just send to me and I will insert the committee's letterhead on the top. I will also make enough room for each member to sign their names, which will make the letter stronger. Ms. Crowell: Okay, let's do that. I'll work on drafting the letter, and I'll try to do it before the end of the week Chair Beck: Great. Ms. Smith: Let me see if I can find the website so I can give you information on that bill. Ms. Crowell: Thank you. Ms. Omo: Also, to expedite the process the Office of Boards and Commission can submit the testimony. Ms. Crowell: Okay, that sounds great. Ms. Smith: The bill has been heard by the Senate and the House but I didn't check to see the house bill, which is HB 1909 and SB2313. Chair Beck: Okay, coming back to partnering with other non - profits in the community. How do you think we should best approach it? Ms. Lasker: Well, I think you have a start towards what you asked for before that. Page 14 of 25 Ms. Smith: Yes. Ms. Lasker: If we are going to become a conduit for the talking points it is the beginning of a relationship with these different organizations. Ms. Yoshii: So are you asking for a letter? Ms. Lasker: Yes. I mean, it seems one would go to the other naturally. Chair Beck: Right. But what I'm not clear about is how many organizations is that? Ms. Lasker: It would be interesting to see how much duplication we come back with at our next meeting because you asked for three (3) from each member hoping for twenty -one (21). But my guess is there will be some cross over because a lot of us are involved in the same organizations. Ms. Yoshii: We could reach out to national organizations as well right? But it would be a little bit tougher but... Chair Beck: If we want the letters to come from our community and although the national organizations is certainly beneficial it might not be the best way to generate local input. So therefore, I made a request so now, I need a motion. Ms. Lasker: I move that the committee does more by creating stronger partnership with other non - profit organizations in the community that reflect the same values and mission statement as US. Ms. Ignacio- Neumiller: Second. Ms. Crowell: Discussion, please. I think some of the non -profits would be good for certain events and the other non - profits would be good for other things. For example, we could designate the Regency at Pua Kea; would you be willing to partner with us for certain events? Ms. Lasker: Always. Pua Kea has always been a willing partner for this committee for as long as I have been here. But I think what we are talking about here and of course our kupuna population I plays major key ... I'm not confident that a retirement community would be a place to go for that. But on the other hand we do have some seniors who are politically involved who I think would love to sink their teeth into writing a letter of support for type of legislative issues we supporting. But I don't think in a broad stroke that is what we are looking for because I think we are looking for something bigger than that, but maybe I'm wrong. Maybe someone here is involved in a very large church population here on this island that really lends themselves to the community involvement, which to me could be an organization. Page 15 of 25 Chair Beck: I think it could be any organization. Whether its employees from Walmart or another organization the purpose is to gain access to the community. We want to build a network of organizations who want to participate in the legislative process. Ms. Smith: I'm just curious. What would that action look like? Chair Beck: The motion that I'm looking for is we come back to the next meeting with a list of twenty -one (2 1) organizations who we might like to partner with. I think we need to start with the list first and then pick only the organizations we feel comfortable with and have some type of relationship with some of its members. Ms. Lasker: Wouldn't there be a cross over to the agenda item before that? I mean, aren't we looking for a conduit of organizations for both agenda items? Chair Beck: Yes, the networking is not just for legislative issues. Ms. Lasker: Of course not. Chair Beck: It's to support our other endeavors particularly legislature and letter writing So has this become more confusing or what? Ms. Lasker: A little bit. I don't think we're looking for two (2) sets of organizations between those agenda items unless I'm misunderstanding. Chair Beck: I think there is a distinction because some of the organizations may not have interest in writing letters while others would happy to throw out three (3) hundred dollars for the girls to go to a luncheon. Ms. Lasker: Okay. Ms. Yoshii: Okay, I think we need to keep it separate. When everybody comes back with their list of three (3) organizations whom they feel comfortable with and have a connection with. We can tease out the ones who we think with be appropriate for writing letters. Ms. Lasker: I think that's more doable. Chair Beck: It's mainly so that we have a resource network for implementing things we think might be good for the community and they feel comfortable with. It's not our job to tell them what to do; we're just providing them with an opportunity. So may I have a motion? Ms. Lasker: We already have a motion on the floor and then we went into discussion. Chair Beck: For clarification, may I have the motion restated before I call for the vote. Page 16 of 25 Ms. Lasker: Sure. I move that we as committee members go out and get names of three (3) organizations that we could partner with for whatever issues may come up in the future; and we want the organizations to be such that they reflect the committee's mission statement. Ms. Yoshii: I second. Ms. Ignacio- Neumiller: I already seconded the motion. Ms. Yoshii: You did, but it was restated it in a different way. Chair Beck: Right, the first motion didn't mention anything about the number of organizations. Ms. Lasker: No, I didn't. Chair Beck: I want the motion to be specific in terms of measurable results. Okay, all those in favor, please signify by saying aye. Opposed? Hearing none. The motion carries 6:0. The next agenda item is: CSW 2016 -03: Discussion and decision - making on having a subpage on the Hawaii State Commission on the Status of Women website for state wide exposure. Ms. Smith: Ladies you all have done such a great job. We are the only committee other than the ladies from the Big Island who have done a great job with their public service announcements. But when it comes to newspaper articles and things like that Kauai is the only committee who posts stuff on the state's page. I just kept sending them the information so when Cathy Betts spoke to the webmaster (because I had made a request to make some changes to the website page) she came back and asked me if the committee wanted to have a subpage of their own; not just one link to the County of Kauai but separate links to all of our activities like press releases things that show everything the committee has done or is planning to do. Ms. Valente: Who would actually manage the page? Ms. Smith: Catherine Betts, Executive Director for the Hawaii State Commission on the Status of Women. Ms. Lasker: So all we would need to do is supply her with the information. Ms. Smith: Yes. Just google Hawaii State Commission on the Status of Women and you will find the link. I saw the proposal and it's for several links that relates to the Kauai Committee on the Status of Women activities. Ms. Yoshii: So we need content. Ms. Smith: A little bit of content but a lot of it would be separate links to the Garden Island Newspaper articles. Page 17 of 25 Chair Beck: And the For Kauai articles. Ms. Smith: Again, if you look at the State website we're the only ones who post articles. It's a banker venue to show how hard you ladies have been working. Chair Beck: Right. Ms. Ignacio- Neumiller: So who would be doing the posting? Ms. Smith: Cathy Betts. Ms. Ignacio - Neumiller: So do we give it to you to send to Cathy? Ms. Smith: Yes. I'm very vocal about what you ladies are doing because I want them to see how you ladies are utilizing the money HSCSW has given you. Ms. Ignacio- Neumiller: Is it being worked on right now, or it is done? Ms. Smith: It's something that can be done but we... Ms. Ignacio- Neumiller: So we should continue to do what we do? Ms. Smith: Cathy keeps asking me if you ladies made a decision, and I said to her we haven't had a meeting yet so I don't know. Chair Beck: I think the distinction is, well some of our information is getting posted on the state's page what Lisa Ellen is trying to say is they ( HSCSW) would like to provide us with a subpage for the Kauai Committee on the Status of Women. Ms. Smith: Right. Chair Beck: Given that all of our public relations have already been approved prior by the County; do we need further permission? Ms.Omo: No. Chair Beck: Good. Ms. Lasker: It's seems like a no brainer. Chair Beck: Well, everything seems like a no brainer until it isn't. Ms. Lasker: Well, I don't know about that, but anyhow. Page 18 of 25 Ms. Smith: Again, what do you guys want to see? Do you want to see State stuff? Because we put State stuff on the County's webpage all the time. Do you want it to reflect our mission statement? Or our press releases on activities. You need to give me an idea so that I can report back to Cathy. Ms. Omo: You could post your group picture on the website. Chair Beck: We need to take a new photo. Ms. Smith: Or your individual pictures or a group shot. Whatever you guys want but you need to give me an idea so that I forward it on to Cathy. Ms. Lasker: Wouldn't it serve as a better link the next time we update our brochure in case, someone wants to learn more about our committee they can actually go click on the link and see more of what we do month in and month out. Ms. Smith: You could add the link to the State's page because the State's page is pretty as cool. I mean, there's a great big chart on women in Hawai`i ... it's a really cool chart. I sent it out before but ... just go to the page and check it out. It has all of the activities relating to the Hawaii Commission. I want to go back to this because I didn't talk enough about the national conference. I will going out in the community to get sponsors. I'm going to ask my girlfriend Christine Bailey if she would donate some nuts and I'm going to say to her would you like to do this and would you like to that. I have a bunch of stuff that I have to do for the conference, which I did not have the chance to do yet because 1 was busy doing other things for this committee. So I'm delinquent in my statewide duties. Chair Beck: Can I have a motion? Ms. Lasker: I move that the committee have a subpage on the Hawaii State Commission on the Status of Women website for statewide exposure. Ms. Yoshii: I second the motion. Chair Beck: All those in favor, please signify by saying aye. Opposed? I fearing none. The motion carries 6:0. Okay, moving onto the last item. CSW 2016 -04 Discussion on iob descriptions for officers and subcommittees to ensure that all functions and expectation are fulfilled. Chair Beck: This came in as a request from Suzanne because she was unclear about what her job duties are. She felt that people were expecting different things from her and we actually do not have any job descriptions. Page 19 of 25 Ms. Lasker: Some would think the reason why we don't have any job descriptions is because this is a volunteer organization or am I wrong? Chair Beck: But in a volunteer organization you can still have job descriptions. I mean, people are volunteering for that function; it's not a time keeping clock situation but what made sense to me is when she was asked for clarification so rather than me making something up I thought since we're an organization; what are our expectations. I have noticed that there have been times where I felt people expected certain things from me that I have never known... especially for the new people. Those of you who have been around for a while you have unwritten customs and traditions of how we do things. But for the new people there are no guidelines and it doesn't have to be huge ... it doesn't have to be intricate ... it could even be two (2) sentences. But if anyone here doesn't think it's a good idea then we won't do it. Ms. Ignacio- Neumiller: Isn't it in our charter? Ms. Omo: You don't have a charter you have By -laws. Ms. Smith: Yep. Ms. Ignacio- Neumiller: Chair, Vice Chair, Secretary and Treasurer. Ms. Smith: Yes, it's in there. Ms. Lasker: So there is a little description. Ms. Yoshii: Maybe we need to review our By -laws. Ms. Smith: I think a great addition is the action list, and thank you Chair Beck for implementing it. Another thing Chair, can you please remind Suzanne that sending emails to everybody is a form of serial communication and it a violation of the Sunshine Laws. All committee business should only be sent to Mercedes... never mind I'll wait. Chair Beck: None of this other stuff is conducive (inaudible) because we don't have a treasurer. Ms. Smith: That's wrong, you do. Ms. Ignacio- Neumiller: Yes we do. Ms. Crowell: Sharon is our treasurer. Chair Beck: Sharon you're our treasurer? Then I apologize. Page 20 of 25 Ms. Lasker: That's okay because I really don't do anything. Chair Beck: Okay. Ms. Omo: I do all of the work when it comes to keeping a record of all the committees expenditures. I just give the report to the treasurer to read at the meetings. Ms. Lasker: There you go. Chair Beck: Mercedes do you want support with the work? Ms. Omo: I'm good. I have a workable excel spreadsheet to keep track of all the committee's expenditures. Chair Beck: Okay. Ms. Smith: Real quick, there is one issue that I want to point out. The only person who can send out serial communications is Mercedes. Suzanne should not be sending serial communications to the members because she's violating the Sunshine Law (sorry I just have to tell you). She should send it to Mercedes to send it out. Chair Beck: Right, she was not clear on that. Ms. Ignacio- Neumiller: It's a common thing that happens. Ms. Smith: Yes, especially if you're new and you just want to tell everybody everything. Just send it to Mercedes because it will make things clear and easy and no one will violate the Sunshine Law. Chair Beck: Okay, great. Suzanne is not responsible for doing any of the things that she's been doing because the only thing that she is responsible for is the minutes. Ms. Ignacio- Neumiller: No, just the action items. Ms. Smith: Only the action items because Mercedes does the minutes. Chair Beck: I understand that but when we look at By -laws there is nothing about the actions items. Ms. Smith: That's why is said, since you been the Chair we this an action item, which Edie wonderfully took over and did as the secretary, and when she passed the duties on, which included the press releases and all of the other stuff. Chair Beck: I understand the mechanism of how that happened. Ms. Omo: I believe Edie did the action item to help the committee move things along. Page 21 of 25 Ms. Smith: Yes. Chair Beck: Yes, I actually requested her and she was so gracious. Ms. Ignacio - Neumiller: It's helped a lot. Chair Beck: Yes, it does help a lot. Part of it is because we get the minutes three (3) weeks later and I try to write down my key points on what I have to do. Ms. Smith: I needed these action items to complete the brochure. I needed the action items in order to complete everything that needed to be done. It's necessary and I feel that it falls under the secretary's job. Chair Beck: So I have shared Suzanne's request and therefore we don't need any job descriptions. Correct? Is there any further discussion, any new topics or announcements? Announcements Ms. Smith: April 26 will be the next Tool Belt Series. I would like to do a press release as we have discussed it and voted on it in the past for Savita's since we are sponsoring the event. I would be help to write the press release which will be almost identical to the last one except for the different date. I haven't done the flyer yet but I will. Is there a problem for me to proceed with the press release? Ms. Lasker: Could we recap everywhere that flyer goes out to because I think there may be some places that we're missing that would put that out for us. In an email blast or whatever. Ms. Smith: When the press release comes out from the Public Information Officer it goes to every county employee. Ms. Ignacio - Neumiller: Last the one I attended there was five (5) or six (6) people, which included Lisa Ellen and myself. Ms. Lasker: I'm thinking not the press release but the flyer because there's different sources that would a -blast it for us. Ms. Smith: I'll be happy to do the flyer. I know that Savita gets copies printed out by Mercedes, and so goes out to places like the mall... she's goes around. I will be happy to send it to you when I'm done. Ms. Lasker: I just didn't want us to duplicate efforts. Ms. Smith: Savita is traveling in India right now and so it would be ... I'm going to do what I can so I don't have a list but I'll be happy to... Page 22 of 25 Ms. Lasker: Why don't we just brainstorm that if we could because I know "For Kauai" will do that. Ms. Smith: Awesome. Ms. Lasker: I'm very certain that I can get the Kauai Chamber of Commerce to do it. Edie can you think of any other places to do the e- blast? Ms. Ignacio - Neumiller: No, I think you already have the two (2) main ones that I can think of. Ms. Smith: That would be great. Ms. Lasker: Because it hits a lot of people. Ms. Ignacio- Neumiller: And I do email it to all of our Zonta members and I will extend it to the Zonta Club of Hanalei. Chair Beck: I have a question for our attorney. There is something called "Constant Contact" that will send out... it's an email service that will send out email blasts for you whenever you want. But it costs a small amount to have an account to have excess the software. I wonder if we have money in our advertising budget... Ms. Smith: That requires a new agenda item. Ms. Yoshii: But there are free ones too. Chair Beck: I got it but maybe it's something we might want to look at for the future so that if we had something to disseminate we could use that. Ilowever, it would require having email addresses, which might a privacy issue. Ms. Krafft: And also procurement. Chair Beck: Okay. Ms. Lasker: We could also get an e -blast through the Women in Business networking group. When we get I will take care of it by sending it to those three (3) destinations. Ms. Crowell: Question. I was just wondering if it was okay for me to try to solicit some funds to attend the National Association Conference on Oahu in July. What is the policy? Chair Beck: I don't think we are allowed to solicit any kind of funds for ourselves. But I think we might be able to ask the County Council for the money to send... Ms. Smith: I sent you an email that outlines the specifics of the law on exactly what you could do. You could ask the Mayor to increase your budget which will be out on June 30, 2016. HRS does allow them to go to Council also. Page 23 of 25 Ms. Omo: Let me check on that. Ms. Valente: Are you asking for community support? Ms. Crowell: Yes. Ms. Lasker: It's about a four (4) hundred dollar registration fee, which does not include the cost for the hotel, etc. The Hawaii State Commission is encouraging you ladies to attend ... we are looking for volunteers... if there is going to be a free ride for the volunteers. Ms. Omo: The Mayor may or may not approve funds for two (2) people. I don't know, I will need to check into it. Ms. Ignacio - Nuemiller: I'm interested in attending. Chair Beck: Edie and Kathy wants to go. Ms. Smith: It is open to the public. You will get a committee rate because I made you guy's members. There was a fifty (50) dollar member fee and we paid for it out of the I Iawai`i Commission. Ms. Lasker: But even the committee's rate at four (400) hundred dollars out pocket would be pretty stiff. Chair Beck: Okay, ladies I'm going to wrap this up. Ms. Ignacio - Nuemiller: I have two (2) announcements. Denim Day is on Wednesday, April 27, 2016. The Zonta Club is taking the lead (both clubs). Ms. Crowell: What are you doing? Ms. Ignacio - Neumiller: Wear denim. There's two (2) things that are happening... Chair Beck: Why do we wear denim? Ms. Ignacio- Neumiller: Because in Italy it had to do with a rape case in Italy and ... you know what the purpose is. It's protesting against the court that overruled this rape case. So that's going to happen. I'm working with Theresa Koki on a possible collaboration on a proclamation it's not confirmed that the Denim Day will be collaborated in the proclamation, which they are going to do (with different agencies) on April 6. So that is pending right now. If we're not on that Denim Day is going to have a separate proclamation on the 270' but that's not confirmed yet. I'm working with Theresa Koki. I put the Kauai Fashion Weekend event on Facebook. I will probably have some tickets if people want to go to event, which is next month on May 7, 2016. Page 24 of 25 Ms. Smith: Do you have a flyer for Denim Day? Ms. Ignacio - Neumiller: Both clubs will be working on a flyer and then we'll do the social media blast. Ms. Smith: Thank you. Chair Beck: Any further announcements, and if not, I declare this meeting adjourned. At 6:09 p.m. the Chair declared the meeting adjourned. Respectfully Submitted by: Mercedes Omo, Support Clerk Virginia Beck, Chair Page 25 of 25 Bernard P. Carvalho Jr. Mayor Nadine Nakamura Managing Director March 20, 2016 Jay Furfaro Boards and Commissions Administrator COMMITTEE ON THE STATUS OF WOMEN COUNTY OF KAUAI Office of the Mayor 4444 Rice Street, Suite 150 L-ihu`e, Hawaii 96766 To the Honorable Senate President Kouchi The Senate Twenty- Eighth Legislature, 2016 State of Hawaii 415 South Beretania Street Room 409 Honolulu, HI 96813 Dear Senate President Ronald Kouchi: Testimony in Support of S.B. No. 2313/sd2 — Relating to Equal Pay The Kaua'i County Committee on the Status of Women is a countywide committee which develops and promotes education, interactive opportunities on issues relating to women and girls, prevention of domestic violence, and health and wellness awareness. Queen Kaahumanu began the recognition in women's rights in the 1820's by becoming the co- leader with Prince Liholiho and abolishing `ia kapu' prohibiting women from eating certain foods and eating separately from men. We are writing you regarding Senate Bill No. 2313%sd2, relating to equal pay to promote gender equality in the workplace and close the pay gap between men and women. Women comprise 47% of the total U.S. labor force of 2016. Our purpose here is to emphasize identification and action on the opportunities, needs, problems and contributions of women in our community and throughout the state. Senate Bill 2313 culminates years of effort to recognize the need for wage equality for women in the workforce. As representatives for women in the workforce today, we appeal to your sentiment to acknowledge the need for this bill to be enacted by the Legislature of the State of Hawaii. Thank you for your time and consideration on this important matter. Mahalo, Virginia Beck, Chair i 1 UIW R r Sharon Lasker Edie Ignacio- Erika Valente