Veterans Employment Committee of San Mateo County Inc.
Business Meeting Minutes: 03/19/07, Monday
Held at the PeninsulaWorks San Carlos Facility, Winter Conference Room
Recorder: Sheryl Shaffer and Rose Sutton
Meeting called to order: Sheryl Shaffer led Pledge of Allegiance and welcome. Roll called.
Roll call of officers:
Chairperson Sheryl Shaffer Present AMVETS Post 34
1st Vice Chair/Treasurer Helen Wong Present AMVETS Post 34
2nd Vice Chair/Correspondence Phil Kurokawa - Present - Veteran
3rd Vice Chair/Special Projects Joseph Cody, Excused World of Veterans
Recorder Rose Sutton - Present - Next Step Center
Others:
Frank and Susan Sherr Present AMVETS Post 53
Michael Taylor Present EDD San Carlos
Jim Kenney Present SMC Vets Ser Officer
Col. Nick Itsines Present AMVET Post 53
Lucio Vera Present EDD San Carlos
Minutes of last meeting: No minutes for the December 06 meeting were mailed out by Michael Taylor. He apologized and said he is just overwhelmed. Sheryl reminded everyone that all the minutes are posted on the web site. All 2006 and 2007 minutes are available for reading on our web site www.vecsamnt.org. Just click on the Minutes link on the home page to view the minutes. Jim Kenney read the minutes and the date was amended. Jim motioned and it was seconded by Nick Itsines to accept minutes as read and amended.
Correspondence: We received the minutes from the SCVEC.
Secretary/Treasurer Report: Helen Wong reported account balances and submitted transaction reports. Bills for the registration of Hometown Days were presented, as well as travel costs for the Chairwoman, TV show taping and food for the volunteer crew.
Next Step Center: Rose Sutton gave us the latest update on the Next Step. The saga of the rent of their building continues. A Statement of Work (S.O.W.) from the VA, states that they are going to tear down the building. This is the third building that the Next Step has occupied that has been torn down by the VA (they have occupied a condemned building for 10 years). It is a one story building and does not meet the future plans of the VA. Rose wrote a grant
Lucio stated that maybe they could have some of their staff relocate here at the EDD office in San Carlos, if they are displaced. She also told us that there are 4 base closures that will happen no later than 2011. She has submitted a Request for Proposal (R.F.P.)
These 2 issues, building being torn down and base closures are the 2 most critical issues facing the Next Step non-profit organization. Rose stated that they have a Case Manager job open, it is posted in CalJOBS and pays $38,000 per year.
World of Vets Report: Joseph Cody was excused.
County Veterans Service Officers Report: Jim Kenney spoke about the impact the 2 newspaper articles are having on his work load. The major point the 2 newspapers articles pointed out was that there should be more than one County Veteran Service Officer in San Mateo County. There are approximately 41,000 vets in S.M. County. Jim spoke in detail about workload units and how the CDVA and County determine the budget. San Mateo County is one of the lowest that they spend on behalf of veterans, $2.40 per vet. The highest, Kern County, spends $15.34 per vet. That is quite a disparity. It has been brought to the attention of the Board of Supervisors that funding needs to be made available for at least one more staff person for the County Veteran Service Office. He has received offers of volunteering from the public but is not able to utilize them.
E.E.D. Staff: The EDD staff reminded us that May is Veterans Appreciation month. They will participate in the Hometown Days Parade in San Carlos on Saturday, May 19. The San Francisco Job Fair at Ft. Mason will be held on May 23. There will also be a proclamation from the County Board of Supervisors. Lucio stated that we are an aging workforce. A one half time job service position was recently cut from the San Francisco Job Service. There is an Assembly Bill that includes a proposal to eliminate from 156 to 256 EDD job service positions that will be presented to the Governor. Lucio stated that the EAC of San Mateo County has written a letter to the governor protesting this bill. Sheryl stated she would also write a letter of protest on behalf of the VECSM.
TV Show: Sheryl Shaffer asked Michael Taylor if he would come to the TV studio the next night, 3/20. The 2 guests will be Bill Robles of the Emergency Housing Consortium of Santa Clara County and Greg Kanan of Waddell and Reed. Title of program is “Veteran Appreciation”.
New Business Decisions: Our mailing list needs to be updated, Michael is too busy to do it and it was suggested by Jim Kenney that maybe one of the people who has called him to volunteer their time, could possibly help with the updating of the list.
FOR THE GOOD OF THE ORDER: Phil Kurokawa reminded us of Memorial Day, Ceremony at the Golden Gate National Cemetery, Monday, May 28, and that 300 Boy Scouts will place the flags on the graves the Saturday before. He continues to attend burial ceremonies and celebration of life for any deceased veteran of any branch and of any rank. He does this on his own and is his way of paying respect to veterans.
Helen Wong said not to forget to attend the Santa Clara County VEC Walk-A-Thon fundraiser from 8am to 1pm at Cunningham Park on May 14 and also the Veterans Appreciation Day on May 4 at the San Jose Vet Center, 278 North Second Street, San Jose.
Please note that we meet once a quarter and that the meeting dates are June 18, 2007, September 17, 2007 and December 17, 2007. We encourage you to join us and participate as we would like to keep our VECSM going but we need you to help us. Please mark your calendar.
The meeting was adjourned at 5:00 p.m.
Next Meeting: Monday – June 18, 2007 at 3:30 P.M. at EDD-PeninsulaWorks, 550 Quarry Road, Winter Room, San Carlos.
BUGLE CALL: Volume 15, Issue 1, 2 & 3.
P.O. Box 25540