PRESENT: Zak Maher, Jenni Tilton-Flood, Ed Branham, Pam Proulx-Curry, Celeste Branham, Maryalice Crofton (staff)
The members convened at 3pm using the virtual meeting technology.
Discussion Items:
Potential Administrative Change. The Dept of Education, the Commission’s current fiscal agent, is reorganizing and the subject of “best fit” for the Commission has been raised. The Commission is actually an independent agency with a fiscal agent. The last time this topic was explored was 2011. Officers at that time both considered being independent and met with a number of entities including DECD and Secretary of State about fiscal agency. In the end, the Governor’s Office assigned the Commission to the Dept of Education and the change was effective on July 1, 2012. Committee members had a lengthy discussion of initial pros/cons of any change. The Governor would have to be supportive of a move to the Secretary of State’s office. Maryalice was asked to explore the issue in depth and keep the Exec Committee informed.
Codifying Maine Climate Corps. Representative Rielly’s bill to codify Maine Climate Corps under the Commission’s statute was not accepted for consideration in the upcoming (short) session. He has since found a way to accomplish the goal by including it as an amendment to another bill about climate issues. The sponsors of that bill are agreeable. Stay tuned.
State Legislators promoting service. Maryalice shared information for the Commission’s awareness. Rep Rielly along with State Representative Wilhelm of New Hampshire have approached ASC about forming a caucus of state legislators committed to expanding service in states. ASC leadership is meeting with them to discuss the idea soon.
Task Force updates: Communications has moved its meeting date so that more members can attend. Participation has been problematic for a few months. Excellence and Expertise is still finding its feet because all members are new. Pam noted they were briefed on the Commission’s emergency response duties this month. Grants task force will have a big chunk of action items for the board business meeting. Maine Service Fellows advisory group met for the first time. The other task forces (DEI Subcommittee, Research and Evaluation) meet right around the business meeting.
Climate Corps input session. There is a draft of the report to the legislature but before it goes into final draft, there are two opportunities for public comment. First is a live public input session using technology. That is on Monday, Dec. 13, from 3-6pm. Second is a call for written comments which need to be submitted by midnight on Dec. 13. Commissioners are asked to be aware and even attend the event so they have first hand knowledge of expectations and public concerns.
December Commission meeting. The plan will be to have members in the room and offer virtual option, per usual. There is no legal way to do a totally virtual meeting. The justifications for remote participation of board members are listed in the law. “Physical condition” would cover underlying health conditions that place a person at-risk if they attend. It was noted that Kennebec County is currently “red” or high community transmission of COVID. By the same token, convenience is not listed in the law.
The next Executive Committee meeting will be January 6, 2022 at 3pm. Going forward all meetings will be on the first Thursday of the month.
There being no other business to discuss, the members dispersed at 3:54 pm.