HomeMy WebLinkAbout2010-09-30
Council for Human Services
September 30,2010
Public Hearing
2 Fain:?:rounds Road
Minutes of the Public Hearing meeting of September 30.2010: The public hearing
took place at 5pm at 2 Fairgrounds Road, Nantucket, MA 02554.
Members Present: Dorothy Hertz, chair., Linda Barrett, sec., John Belash, Augusto
Ramos, Mary Wawro, Linda Williams (6pm), Bartholomew Cosgrove, Richard
Ross.
Members Absent: Susan Marques
Staff Present: Maryanne Worth
Members of the Public: Georgia Ann Snell, Interfaith Council/Food Pantry/Rental
Assistance; Terry Vigil; Edward J. Metcalf; Pam Meriam, Our Island Home;
Catherine Ancero; Christy Kickbam, FinCom (former HSCSWG); Margaretta
Andrews, CFNan; Robin LaPiene; Sharon Phillips; Jan Metcalf; C. Jack Gardner,
CRC(former HSCSWG); Craig Howard; Regina Burke; Mary Richrod, ACDC;
Carol G.Dunton; Andrew Reis, Food Pantry; Kat Robinson Greider, A Safe Place;
Elin Anderwald; Wendy McCrae; Toby Greenberg (former HSCSWG); Marsha L.
Fader; Diane Coombs; Glenora Kelly Smith; Brenda Waddy; Michael Kopko, BOS
(5:22pm)
I. Called to Order: The meeting/hearing was called to order at 5 :02pm
II. Quorum: A quorum was established.
III. Approval of Agenda: The agenda was approved.
IV. Introductions: Dorothy welcomed the newest members to the board, Bart
Cosgrove and Richard Ross. The board in turn introduced themselves to the
members of the public.
V. ActionlDiscussion:Public Hearing/Public Comment: Dorothy welcomed the
public and went over the rules for the hearing. Maryanne went over the process with
the flow chart as to how our report evolved. She told everyone that the report is up
on the Town website. Handouts of the twelve page report (without the appendix)
were at the meeting as was the power point presentation. Maryanne offered to make
copies of the entire report for those unable to get it on the web.
Dorothy read the charge given to the CHS by the Board of Selectman (BOS) and the
timeline the CHS outlined. She also told of the small amount of time we were
allotted for the presentation and the actions of the BOS when the CHS presented the
power point on the "Back to Basics" report on September 22, 2010. As soon as John
and Mary finished the presentation at the BOS meeting, a selectman ( Brian
Chadwick) made a motion to roll over the present contracts which was seconded
immediately (Michael Kopko). Mary Wawro talked about the transcript she made
from the recording of the BOS meeting and that it was unclear as to exactly what
will happen in 2012 as far as contracts go. Copies of the transcript had been made
and were at the hearing. Mary read from the transcript, Libby's words in response to
a question from the public: "I would support that concept as well. This is a very
comprehensive report. It's very lengthy, I think we all want to take some time to
review and understand it and I don't think that's going to happen in the next
immediate period of time so we need some time to do that. The rolling over the
contract issue has come before the board before. I support that. And whether the
amounts stay the same or not remains to be seen. The same amount for the FY11
budget ($317,883.00) is still in there as an allocation depending on how issues get
reallocated."
Apparently the entire BOS didn't have time to read the report even though we were
put on the agenda right away and the twelve page repOli was given to them on time
on the 15th with the appendix (supporting documents) being given to them on the
21 st.
John Belash gave the power point presentation. Mary talked about the contracting
process in the past. She told of how we prioritized the needs for our report;
questionnaires and the previous public hearing on July 28, 2010 as well as other
sources. She explained how the CHS put them into three levels and what they were.
(5 :22pm Michael Kopko arrived at hearing)
Mary also talked of the RFP process and how the laws read. The CHS
recommended to have their Community Needs Statement be used as the Scope of
Services.
Mary asked everyone to look at pages 7 & 8 to see the proposals which were not
very different from the contract review and read what the CHS recommended. She
went through the evaluation criteria and said the CHS had hoped for discussion from
the BOS and/or the procurement officer about these but wasn't sure if this would
happen. Mary reiterated that the CHS felt that there should be emphasis on the basic
needs and the CHS had recommended that at least 300/0 of funding should go to
these.
Dorothy went through the unemployment stats. People who are self-employed can
not receive unemployment. She also mentioned statistics comparing what $50,000
earned in Hyannis would pay for versus how much you would have to earn in
Nantucket to pay for the same things, over $106,000. Vineyard Haven to here was
$72,000 to their $50,000. In July of2010 unemployment in Nantucket was up by
40% over July 2009.
A question was asked of the percentage of funding now spent on basic needs, the
answer was about 18%.
The answer to a question asking the percentage of the entire town budget (approx.
68 million) that was currently being used for human services (including the town's
human services dept. salaries as reminded by Mr. Kopko) turned out to be .6% or six
tenths of one percent. Mr. Kopko said that this amount is indeed a minuscule
amount but went on to say that it is unusual for a town to allocate money to human
services. He also said that what happens when the economy goes in the tank, human
services always get cut first. He asked the people at the hearing to speak to others so
it won't get cut.
One member of an agency was a little uncomfortable with 300/0 of the funding going
to basic needs but when it was explained that these recommendations were only for
2012, she felt better and did agree that basic needs does need more money now.
When asked to give an example of what a level three service would be, the answer
was the Red Cross and other ancillary services such as the fire department and police
as we had no where else to get help in a disaster since we are an island.
Questions were asked about the 30B law process and answered with the actual chart
showing the requirements.
When questions of how contracts were awarded, the answer was that the BOS would
award them and then direct the procurement officer, this was affirmed by Mr.
Kopko. Mr. Kopko also stated that all agencies under contract now would receive a
letter, and this was the best way to keep the $317,000 in the budget or it may get cut.
When Mr. Kopko was questioned about what type of letter would be sent out, was it
a legal notice, his response was that he wasn't sure, he thought it was just a letter.
When he was asked if other agencies would also get a letter, he said he didn't think
so. Suggestions then came up about reallocating funds from other projects. Another
suggestion for new agencies that would appear to be shut out of funding was to go to
town meeting with a line item.
A big concern was voiced that the people making the money decisions don't always
understand how many people are affected by these decisions and/or how it affects
them.
A suggestion that whatever (total) funding was allocated, it should used most
effectively (not necessarily the way the numbers are now).
Many more statistics from the agencies including the rental assistance and food
pantry reinforced our report.
More concerns that there seems to be no process this year for funding. No one
knows what the process is or where anyone is supposed to go. No new services will
be able to get anything, the Contract Review Committee that has worked for the past
25 years is out of the loop. According to the last BOS meeting, the BOS has taken
over that responsibility as stated by chair Ms.Roggeveen. No one knows what will
happen. If a disgruntled group is not allowed to ask for an allocation of money, it
could stop any money from being allocated. When the question was asked that if the
30B law wasn't followed, did that mean that no one may be able to get money? The
answer was that the BOS has stated at many meetings that things weren't being done
properly according to 30B and still nothing has been done to change things. The
answer is unknown.
(Michael Kopko left at 6:26pm)
Some people were concerned that they may now have to go to the BOS for help, but
it was clarified that now only organizations may have to do this. The CBS was told
that we had to prove to the BOS in our report that the human services office should
stay open and we believe we have done that. All the members of the Council for
Human Services, who worked on this report, stand by it.
Those present at the hearing praised the CHS "Back to Basics" report and said it was
very well done. No negative comments were made about the report at this public
hearing. Those attending the meeting who spoke seemed to agree that the priorities
the CHS listed in level one as basic needs were the most needed now and had had
the greatest increase in need.
Adjourned: A motion was made by John Belash to adjourn, unanimously voted. The
meeting/hearing was adjourned at 6:47pm.
Respectfully submitted by fif};ula {{!I!JdUJJy-e/t Secretary
Approved October 15,2010