Present: Sue Asselin Hawthorne, Celeste Branham, Jenni Tilton-Flood, Ed Barrett, Luke Shorty
The Executive Committee gathered virtually for its monthly work session at 3:05 pm.
-- Slate of officers to announce at May meeting. With membership changes anticipated, the chair-elect and vice-chair positions are both open. People who have expressed some interest are discussing the responsibilities with current officers. The goal is to propose a slate in May, ask any other interested to step forward, and vote new officers in June.
-- New recruits for Commission. Because a number of new people filled unexpired terms, there are 8 members with terms ending September 2021. The group includes Ryan Almy, Jonathan Barczyk, Mathison Deering, Julia Fiori, Lisa Phelps, Zakk Maher, Celeste Branham, and Luke Shorty. Barczyk is unable to continue. Shorty said he would like reappointment. Celeste will contact everyone else to see what their plans are.
-- Update on special guests for May and June. Celeste extended the invitations and is waiting for replies. She will follow up later this week. On a related topic, Nico Chin is interested in working with the Commission and will meet with Celeste in June.
-- New strategy for complying with public meeting rules for task forces. For years, task force work sessions occurring by conference call (and now zoom) have provided members of the public the connection info when it was requested. There is a better way to do this and has been modeled by the legislative committees. The meetings will be set up as webinars and the link published with the meeting notice. The webinar format lets anyone connect and hear as well as see what is happening. Task Force members are “inside” the room and, if they want to speak with a special guest, the person can be brought into the room. Moving to this process means any possibility of someone’s request being overlooked is eliminated. Commission meetings will still be broadcast over youtu.be.
-- Strategy for supporting Maine Service Fellows LD1010. Jenni will send an email to all Commissioners with Rep Reilly’s new infographic and the updated bill language. Everyone has to reach out and educate as many legislators as possible. Funding decisions on ARP and other monies are being negotiated right now. Commissioners will be asked to let her know who they spoke with and what level of support they think will be offered.
-- Task force updates. Ed Barrett noted the grant selection and award votes will take up quite a bit of time at the next meeting. The Task Force with help from others is deep into reviews right now. Communications is balancing legislative and the outreach campaign development.
-- Agenda for May 21 meeting. In addition to items already discussed, the additional agenda items would be routine reports.
There being no other business to discuss the members dispersed at 3:45 pm.