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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2013.10.29 HHSC MinutesMINUTES OF THE HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES COMMISSION City Clerk Conference Room 300 E. Superstition Blvd., Apache Junction, AZ October 29, 2013 - 4:30 P.M. COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: ANDREW WHITENECK, CHAIRPERSON JODENE WEETER, VICE CHAIRPERSON GEORGIANA ELIAS RANDY MULLEN STAFF PRESENT: KATHLEEN CONNELLY, CITY CLERK JAN MASON, DEPUTY CITY CLERK COMMISSIONERS ABSENT:OTHERS PRESENT: ROBERT MAYO JUDY BOREY 1.Call to Order/Roll Call. Chairperson Whiteneck called the meeting to order at 4:30 p.m. Deputy City Clerk Jan Mason called the roll and advised the commission that Commissioner Mayo has not been responding to attempts to contact.Upon finishing the roll call she advised there was a quorum. City Clerk Kathleen Connelly requested they introduce themselves as they have one new member that has been sworn in and Judy is a new member but cannot participate until November.The commission members introduced themselves to each other. City Clerk Kathleen Connelly commented Judy Borey was active with the Boys and Girls Club.She asked her if she was still active with them. Ms. Judy Borey stated she volunteers to bring in a pot luck dish if they call and ask her for one or if they need a driver for a van. City Clerk Kathleen Connelly suggested she stop in to talk to the city attorney between now and the next meeting to talk about a possible conflict of interest.He would be able to tell her HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES COMMISSION MEETING OCTOBER 29, 2013 PAGE 1 OF 9 whether or not she has one.She does not believe so but it is better to get a legal opinion. 2.Discussion on FY 2013-14 funding applications and procedure for reviewing applications. City Clerk Kathleen Connelly briefed the commission on the item. She stated they have the same five agencies again this year. She did not give them copies of the 501C or bylaws because in some instances they have seen them before.She does have them on file should they want to see them.The checklist on the front will give them a good idea of what the attachments are. They have five applicants.Community Alliance Against Family Abuse is asking for $14,000; the food bank $30,000; Boys and Girls Club $20,000; Mountain Health and Wellness $15,000 and East Valley Adult Resources is basically requesting $30,000. They have asked for another $45,000 for van transportation.In the years previous the latter was grant funded but they are not getting the grant or the money from the Gila River Indian Tribe. They have no money for van transportation.She did advise the director last week that the commission only has $85,000.If all the information is added up it comes to $154,000.It is a big stretch.She advised him she would present his secondary request to the commission and let them talk about, but she suggested that he not hold too much hope for it.He is working with other people, such as Roger Hacker and Bryant Powell, to find some other grant funding. Vice Chairperson Weeter commented that is one of the reasons why the Boys and Girls Club did not get much last year.They have other places where they could go to get funding. City Clerk Kathleen Connelly asked the new commissioners if they would like copies of last year's minutes so they could get an idea of how things happened. Ms. Judy Borey and Commissioner Elias both agreed that would be helpful. City Clerk Kathleen Connelly stated they would mail them to them.The meetings are not very long.She believed there were only two meetings last year. HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES COMMISSION MEETING OCTOBER 29, 2013 PAGE 2 OF 9 Deputy City Clerk Jan Mason commented there were two:one where they handed out the applications and one where they had the interviews followed by the recommendations. City Clerk Kathleen Connelly commented sometimes they opt to interview none of the applicants.It is their decision on how many this wish to do.It can be none of the applicants, some of the applicants or all of the applicants. Ms. Judy Borey stated she would like to interview all of them. City Clerk Kathleen Connelly stated that is up to all of them. She believed they had done that in the past.They are not familiar with all the different agencies.They can check on the food bank or some of the other applicants.The senior center is East Valley Adult Resources.She added if they visit them to not commit to anything. 3.Status report of FY 2012-13 funding recipients. City Clerk Kathleen Connelly stated these are the same applicants as last year. Chairperson Whiteneck asked if there were any major changes for any of them. City Clerk Kathleen Connelly stated East Valley Adult Resources was a little slow.She would sometimes have to send them an email saying for them to see that they get their report in. They very quickly turned it around and hand carried over to her that day.The big problem was Mountain Health and Wellness. She included in the packet the email she had to send to them in September.The fourth quarter report was due no later than July 10.She finally contacted them in September and politely asked them when they were going to submit something.They said they did not know.One man told her he would get something to her as soon as possible and she never heard from them again.They did not use the last quarter of funding.She closed the account without paying them.She could not pay them.She knows they have said in the past that if something like that happens they would like to reconvene so they could possibly redistribute the funding, but this was the fourth quarter and there was not time to redistribute it. HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES COMMISSION MEETING OCTOBER 29, 2013 PAGE 3 OF 9 Chairperson Whiteneck asked if it went back into the general fund. City Clerk Kathleen Connelly stated it went back into the general fund. Commissioner Mullen asked if there were any problems with Community Alliance Against Family Abuse this time. City Clerk Kathleen Connelly stated they were fine.Once the commission opened the door for them to use it, they were fine. Commissioner Elias asked what happens if the funding does not meet the entire amount they are requesting or does it have to meet the entire amount. Vice Chairperson Weeter commented as a group they will make the decision as to who gets what and why.Read everything, make notes and then come back.Chairperson Whiteneck usually has the funding numbers all figured out.He is really good at figures. Chairperson Whiteneck stated he likes numbers. Vice Chairperson Weeter stated it is no big deal.They then discuss who should get what and why. City Clerk Kathleen Connelly stated the commission has never had enough funding to meet the demand. Vice Chairperson Weeter commented she would like to have more but so would the city clerk. City Clerk Kathleen Connelly agreed.They had one year where they had $100,000 and then it got scaled back to $80,000 and then $85,000. Vice Chairperson Weeter commented on the food bank collecting empty drinking water bottles.They found a place that will pay them for them and they can then buy extra food.Five cents buys a lot of food. Ms. Judy Borey asked if they meet again if an agency does not meet the requirements for the second or third quarter. HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES COMMISSION MEETING OCTOBER 29, 2013 PAGE 4 OF 9 City Clerk Kathleen Connelly stated that is what the commission asked for this last round.Two years ago we had a series of problems with different agencies.The council approved that as part of the recommendation.We were fine until the fourth quarter when Mountain Health and Wellness did not perform. Maybe it was because of Evans and some changes between January and July, plus some personnel changes.She feels she gave them the opportunity and they still did not meet the deadline.To this day she has not heard anything.They always submitted their request in advance of the deadline.She did not anticipate this happening.It is up to them as to who they want to interview, who they do not want to interview or if they want to interview everyone or no one. Vice Chairperson Weeter commented if they are going to consider Mountain Health and Wellness they should have somebody here. City Clerk Kathleen Connelly stated she cannot answer for them. She knows there are probably two council members who will ask why she did not go to them, but then she would have to tell them about a conflict of interest.One of them works there and the other is an advocate for them. Vice Chairperson Weeter commented she could see if a new person got her note and maybe she forgot, but she better have a good reason as to why she forgot. Commissioner Elias asked if they received money the prior year. City Clerk Kathleen Connelly stated they have received funds for several years. Commissioner Elias stated they should be in tune with what they need to do. Vice Chairperson Weeter commented someone should be training them as they come in and letting them know what is going on. Chairperson Whiteneck commented if they are interested in getting our money they should play the game. City Clerk Kathleen Connelly stated she is not quite sure who is still over there.They originally got the board of directors list and they always give her the contact information.The HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES COMMISSION MEETING OCTOBER 29, 2013 PAGE 5 OF 9 contact information she received did not match what she did have.If there are changes, they need to advise her to change it. Vice Chairperson Weeter stated that would be a definite need. Commissioner Elias commented they are the only ones that did not submit anything for the fourth quarter. City Clerk Kathleen Connelly stated that is correct.Everybody else is fine.Some of them, the food bank and the Boys and Girls Club, are usually a day or two ahead of time.The reasons for their requests have not changed:the food bank for food, operational costs and utilities; the Boys and Girls Club for the after school programs; Community Alliance Against Family Abuse for counseling; Mountain Health and Wellness for psychiatric services and client needs and East Valley Adult Resources for congregate meals and home -delivered meals.Their third request is for van transportation. Chairperson Whiteneck commented he would like to extend an invitation to Mountain Health and Wellness.He asked if any of the new people would be interested in seeing any of the other organizations. Ms. Judy Borey commented if they are going to do one, they should do all five. Vice Chairperson Weeter stated they can do that.There is no problem with that.It will take them longer and they may need a third meeting. Chairperson Whiteneck commented if they start early enough they can knock it out.They are getting to be a well-oiled machine where they can crunch through the numbers. City Clerk Kathleen Connelly stated the food bank has increased their request.It is in their cover letter. Vice Chairperson Weeter asked if it was because of new requirements.When her church first starting working with the food bank, a penny bought a meal.Now it is five cents.It is a big difference. HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES COMMISSION MEETING OCTOBER 29, 2013 PAGE 6 OF 9 4.Selection of future meeting dates. Chairperson Whiteneck commented the next order would be setting the next meeting date. City Clerk Kathleen Connelly asked if they wanted to invite them all. Chairperson Whiteneck stated that is correct. City Clerk Kathleen Connelly stated Judy cannot vote on this since she is not a member yet. Vice Chairperson Weeter commented she can vote at the next meeting. Commissioner Elias stated she is fine with meeting with everyone.She is the new person so the more information she gets the better in order to make a better decision. Vice Chairperson Weeter asked if two people went off.She stated Christa Rizzi went off. Deputy City Clerk Jan Mason stated Christa Rizzi went off and Robert Mayo will be going off. That is who Judy is replacing. Vice Chairperson Weeter commented they can interview all five applicants, see what the time limits are and whether they can do it all in one meeting or if they have to do a third one. Deputy City Clerk Jan Mason stated they have done it all in one before if they get an early enough start. City Clerk Kathleen Connelly stated in the past they have allowed 15 minutes, which is up to 10 minutes for the interview and the balance for questions. Vice Chairperson Weeter commented to the new commissioners that Randy Mullen is real good at writing down questions.We need to do that or we forget them. City Clerk Kathleen Connelly stated they may see something in their budget that they do not understand or there may be a HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES COMMISSION MEETING OCTOBER 29, 2013 PAGE 7 OF 9 section in their audit report that states they did something wrong.They can be asked about that. Ms. Judy Borey asked if they all have to report the same way and the clients all have to be city residents. City Clerk Kathleen Connelly stated that is correct.That has not changed.They have to be city residents in order to receive the funding.When she goes through the quarterly reports that is the first thing she looks for and she eliminates those that are not. Ms. Judy Borey asked how the food bank works on that as they do get so many winter visitors. City Clerk Kathleen Connelly stated they do.She has been told they run parallel reports for in -city and out -of -city. Sometimes they will put an out -of -city address in.However, by the time she gets to the bottom line on the last page they have more than provided food to exceed any amount the city can ever give them.Even if there are a couple of out -of -city addresses in there, they supplied more to city residents than their level of funding. There was general discussion on the next meeting date and time. The consensus was to have the next meeting on Thursday, November 14 at 3:30 p.m. Vice Chairperson Weeter commented to the new people to not think they have to live with an amount Chairperson Whiteneck comes up with.He has them thinking faster that way and they can get through the program faster. City Clerk Kathleen Connelly stated if they start at 3:30 on November 14 and give everyone 15 minutes that will be an hour- and -a -half.They should be done by 5:00 p.m., giving them an hour to do their recommendations. Commissioner Mullen commented he could not be here before 4:30 as he is driving from Scottsdale., He was okay with them interviewing them ahead of time as he has seen them all.He requested they schedule Mountain Health and Wellness for the very last.They are the ones he wants to talk to more so than the rest. HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES COMMISSION MEETING OCTOBER 29, 2013 PAGE 8 OF 9 City Clerk Kathleen Connelly stated they can do that. Vice Chairperson Weeter commented if he has any questions he can call her or the chairperson. City Clerk Kathleen Connelly stated they usually interview them in alphabetical order so that puts them last anyway.It will work out fine.She will not let them exchange their times as sometimes they have done in the past.She asked if there was any other information they want from them.She thought they were pretty inclusive from what they gave the commission, including their future budget which is now their existing budget. Chairperson Whiteneck commented it will be November 14 at 3:30 p.m. City Clerk Kathleen Connelly stated this will give us enough time to notify them and tell them what to prepare for. 5.Adjournment. Chairperson Whiteneck called for a motion to adjourn the meeting. Vice Chairperson Weeter MOVED TO ADJOURN THE MEETING. Chairperson Whiteneck SECONDED THE MOTION. VOTE:Unanimous. The motion carried. The meeting was adjourned at 4:55 p.m. Andrew Whiteneck Chairperson Kathleen Connelly City Clerk HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES COMMISSION MEETING OCTOBER 29, 2013 PAGE 9 OF 9