PRESENT: Scott Adams, Jennifer Burke, Kelly Day, Bill Guindon, Ninette Irabaruta, Necole Janczura, Diane Lebson, Janet May (remote), Tom Meuser, Pam Proulx-Curry, Luke Shorty, Betsy Sawyer-Manter (remote), Tade Sullivan, Jenni Tilton-Flood, Ruben Torres (remote)
STAFF/GUESTS: Michael Ashmore, Maryalice Crofton, Tilan Copson, Kofi Bofah, Jamie McFaul, Sally Slovenski, James Fagan, John Portela
PUBLIC COMMENT
AmeriCorps Program Briefing - Campus Climate Action Corps. Sally Slovenski, director of the program, briefed the Commission. She started by explaining that the national organization, Campus Compact, changed its organizational structure a year ago. It no longer has affiliate chapters so Maine Campus Compact closed and was integrated into the national organization. The 17 Maine campuses that were members of the state organization are now part of the national one. Sally was the state organization director for 12 years. This AmeriCorps program is considered the first nationwide program solely dedicated to campus-based/community-led climate action. The national direct grant started in August 2023. In the current year 2, there are 16 campuses nationwide. The program is part of the American Climate Corps and Maine Climate Network. The program model started in Maine from 2017-2021 under a grants from the Commission. Volunteer Maine also provided a lot of technical assistance and training. In Maine, the focus was primarily on home energy conservation. The experience was a critical one to laying the foundation for the current national program. She said they were deeply grateful for the supports Volunteer Maine provided. She noted some changes in the national model mean the program is considered a climate mitigation program, not an adaptation or resilience program. The program has funding for 100 members in the national program. There is a state program in Connecticut which will have 40 members.
BUSINESS MEETING
Call to Order. Commission Chair Shorty called the meeting to order at 10:28 AM.
Commissioners introduced themselves. Rob Glazier explained he was filling in for Susan Cheesman. The Commissioner quiz answer had one correct answer (9 of 11 Climate Corps Network members are not AmeriCorps programs). The Chair reviewed the protocols for hybrid meetings and the conditions for conflict of interest declarations.
The Financial Task Force now has a full set of members. It will hold its first meeting on January 21. The members are Scott Adams, Jennifer Burke, Luke Shorty, Bill Guindon, and Michael Williams. Its mission is “to educate and communicate to the commissioners the financial condition and activities of the Commission, as well as the financial resources needed to meet our mission.”
The chair was joined by John Portela, President of the Maine Volunteer Foundation, to recognize James Fagan of Dover-Foxcroft who just completed his term as a Maine Service Fellow. The education award funded by the Foundation is $5,349. James shared a bit about his year and mentioned he hopes to do a second year if the community successfully applies for another project.
John Portela reminded Commissioners the annual appeal for donations is the source of funding for these education awards. There are other Service Fellows who will be completing service and earning education awards in 2025. Luke mentioned the blank envelopes at each place could be used to make a donation and John can take them with him.
There were no additions or deletions to the agenda.
CONSENT AGENDA
MOVED by Proulx-Curry to approve the consent agenda. SECOND by Lebson. Vote on the motion (roll call): In favor– Adams, Burke, Day, Guindon, Irabaruta, Janczura, Lebson, May, Meuser, Proulx-Curry, Sawyer-Manter, Sullivan, Tilton-Flood, Torres. Opposed – none. Motion passed.
Under the motion, the following minutes were approved and reports accepted: November 15, 2024 Commission meeting minutes and the report of the December 3 Executive Committee meeting.
PLANNING AND FUTURE INITIATIVES
Maine Office of Community Affairs. Samantha Horn, Director of the Maine Office of Community Affairs, was welcomed. She gave a status update on the office. She noted the first order of business has been to meet staff, understand the various programs but the most pressing issue is the 2026-2027 state budget. The initiatives had been submitted before she started in October but there was a lot of discussion with the administration. No decisions have been made and the Governor’s office is still considering what will be included. The Commission budget initiatives submitted through the Dept of Education are all in the MOCA budget. It is a difficult budget year but there is a lot of support for creation of the office so she is hopeful. Yesterday the future MOCA staff (programs transferring to the office) met. The only new unit will be the State Resilience Office, funded by the $69M grant, five-year grant from NOAA. Starting in January 2025, the parts moving to MOCA will start discussions around nuts and bolts. She noted that, during the legislative session, she will be most involved in issues related to land use planning and housing, because that is her background and expertise. She sees the Commission as the content experts so issues related to Volunteer Maine she will be helpful but needs the Commission to flag things that impact it. She noted she is conscious of the need to build long term vision and sustainability during the last two years of this administration. At the same time, need to have immediate short run impact that is meaningful to communities. A lot of the programs coming to MOCA work deeply with communities that will open new possibilities for collaborating differently. Communities are really wanting to have someone they can call who will help them get a warm handoff to someone who can help them. After this overview, Horn answered questions from Commissioners including how Commission board members and Director Horn would supervise the board. She indicated she wants to have regular conversations with board members and sees that program mechanics would be the purview of the staff and board while budget and facilities need to be areas she is involved with.
Maine Volunteer Foundation. President Portela gave a status report for end of year. The joint Commission and Foundation committee is organizing the Governor’s Service Awards event which has a budget of about $8,000. Two sponsors have been secured for a total of $7500. Additional sponsors would help raise some additional funds for the education awards. There is a Memorandum of Understanding under consideration that will be with MEMA for capacity building among CERT teams by holding donations to those teams which typically are not incorporated. Searching for board members, especially because there was a recent resignation. The Foundation has also engaged the help of a grantwriter who has started the background research on opportunities.
1. Annual Appeal and general update
2. GSA planning committee progress
C. Other (if needed) Shorty
FOCUS ON MISSION RESPONSIBILITIES.
Commissioner Ambassador Reports. Commissioners reported they have scheduled visits
[There was a brief break at the 1:40 hr mark. The board reconvened after 10 minutes later.]
BUSINESS REPORTS
Public Policy. Tilton-Flood reported there will be an organizing meeting early in the new year. Items related to the state legislature will happen after cloture.
Grant Selection and Performance Task Force. Guindon reviewed the mission of this task force in recognition of the fact many board members are new. He noted the grant selection process is very intense and thorough. He recognized the peer reviewers, Heather Blackwell, Ben Levek, and Jay Kuder. He also thanked the task force members who helped with the technical review for the new application and a continuation application. The applications this year showed improved quality.
Guindon offered the Task Force funding recommendation for the continuation application. Then Lebson MOVED that the GPCOG’s AmeriCorps Resiliency Corps program be funded for year 3 of the 3-year grant, at the level of $300,000, supporting 12 MSY distributed over 12 slots, at the proposed cost per member service year of $25,000. Second by Tilton-Flood. Discussion requested clarification of match. There were two numbers – one represented public funding and the other is private funding.
Vote on the motion (roll call): In favor– Adams, Burke, Day, Guindon, Irabaruta, Janczura, Lebson, May, Meuser, Proulx-Curry, Sullivan, Tilton-Flood, Torres. Opposed – none. Motion passed.
Guindon offered the Task Force funding recommendation for the new competitive application from the Maine Conservation Corps. He noted the application last year was not funded but the proposal this year showed marked improvement. MOVED by Proulx-Curry that the Maine Conservation Corps AmeriCorps program for year 1 of the 3-year grant, at the level of $1,234,000, supporting 49.36 MSY distributed over 105 slots, at the proposed cost per member service year of $25,000. It should be moved forward to the federal competition.
Discussion covered reviewer comments and appreciation for how helpful they were to Commissioners not on the grant selection panels. The source of private funding was confirmed as the charges sites pay. A question about whether this applicant who is recompeting, had issues with timecards. The Congressional hearing had focused on problems many programs had. It was confirmed this program has not had issues with timekeeping.
Vote on the motion (roll call): In favor– Adams, Burke, Day, Guindon, Irabaruta, Janczura, Lebson, May, Meuser, Proulx-Curry, Sullivan, Tilton-Flood, Torres. Opposed – none. Motion passed.
MOVED by Guindon that the peer reviewers, Heather Blackwell, Ben Levek, and Jay Kuder as well as Ed Barrett helping with tech review. Second by Proulx-Curry.
Vote on the motion (roll call): In favor– Adams, Burke, Day, Guindon, Irabaruta, Janczura, Lebson, May, Meuser, Proulx-Curry, Sullivan, Tilton-Flood, Torres. Opposed – none. Motion passed.
Executive Committee. Shorty noted Lucy Martin has joined staff as the Climate Corps Coordinator. The staff office will move to Marquardt around July 2025. Also noted that Exec Committee is monitoring federal actions around a continuing resolution to keep the federal government operating. On another issue, Executive Committee met with the Foundation board to make them aware of the potential impact of federal cuts and the possible need for the Foundation to help ensure the Commission is able to continue operating. It was noted Lebson very generously offered her professional assistance to the Foundation about fundraising.
Communications Task Force. In the process of rebuilding after some members needed to resign. The first organizing meeting has been set in January. It was noted that Ruben has agreed to serve on this task force.
Service Programs Task Force. The organizing meeting will be in January and Michael is getting the scheduling out. (Meuser)
Transition Task Force. The members will meet after this board meeting.
AmeriCorps (federal agency). Glazier noted that even at the federal level there is no more information than other board members have. Regarding federal administration transition, the agency has begun which means the agency review team (people named by the incoming administration). The agency is not permitted to have contact with this “landing team” until they reach out. The team is led by someone who served as Director of AmeriCorps in the past. There haven’t been any substantive conversations, just the initial contact. The first deadline for VISTA proposals was last week. About a dozen were submitted but none were Maine-based. The next deadline will be late March 2025. a briefing for states earlier in the week,
Commission staff reports. The Volunteer Services Coordinator position has been approved by Human Resources. The next step is to get the funds aligned with the position in the budget. The hiring process should open in early January. The same situation is true for the Climate Corps Coordinator. The PIO position is being advertised and applications close on December 31. A reminder that Tilan is in an acting capacity. The goal is to have positions filled before March 30.
NGA workforce development project. The Commission, Department of Labor, and Governor’s Energy office collaborated on an application to the NGA workforce development project. Yesterday the announcement was made and it was positive. The budget submitted would give the bulk of monies to the Commission. This project dovetails very well with the Green Employer Cohort award the Commission received earlier in the year. The GEC project is a partner with Maine Municipal Association which wants to identify municipal positions that could be options for people coming out of service positions with high quality skills.
Business Wrap Up (Shorty)
ASC Leadership Convening. Tom Meuser and Diane Lebson will represent the Commission. It is the last week of February.
Check-in on hybrid meeting experience showed it worked for everyone. Reminder: Next scheduled business meeting is January 17, 2025.
MOVED by Tilton-Flood to adjourn. SECOND by Proulx-Curry. Unanimous in favor. The meeting adjourned at 12:38 pm.