Veterans Affairs Commission

CITY OF LONG BEACH WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2018 VETERANS AFFAIRS HEALTH DEPARTMENT MAIN BUILDING COMMISSION MINUTES 2525 GRAND AVENUE, ROOM 204, 5:00 PM Gustavo Orozco, Chair Carlos Gonzalez, Commissioner Juanita Doplemore, Vice Chair Mike Shaknovich, Commissioner Ryan Antes, Commissioner Josh Smith, Commissioner Sylvia Contreras, Commissioner Kiniko Willingham, Commissioner Ricky Fernandez, Commissioner FINISHED AGENDA & MINUTES CALL TO ORDER Chair Orozco called the meeting to order at 5:12 p.m. ROLL CALL Commissioners Ryan Antes, Sylvia Contreras, Ricky Fernandez, Carlos Present: Gonzalez, Mike Shaknovich, Kiniko Willingham, Juanita Doplemore and Gustavo Orozco Commissioners Josh Smith Excused: 18-073VA Recommendation to approve minutes for the Veterans Affairs Commission meeting held on November 14, 2018. A motion was made by Commissioner Gonzalez, seconded by Commissioner Fernandez, to approve recommendation. The motion carried by the following vote: Yes: 8 - Ryan Antes, Sylvia Contreras, Ricky Fernandez, Carlos Gonzalez, Mike Shaknovich, Kiniko Willingham, Juanita Doplemore and Gustavo Orozco Excused: 1 - Josh Smith PUBLIC PARTICIPATION No members of the public were present. Page 1 of 4 CITY OF LONG BEACH WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2018 VETERANS AFFAIRS HEALTH DEPARTMENT MAIN BUILDING COMMISSION MINUTES 2525 GRAND AVENUE, ROOM 204, 5:00 PM REGULAR AGENDA CHAIR REPORT Chair Orozco distributed flyers for the Long Beach Winter Shelter, operated by US VETS, which opened on December 8, and remains open open until March 31. He encouraged Commissioners to spread the word about the shelter, which provides shelter, food and safety for persons experiencing homelessness. Orozco also distributed flyers for the Homeless Memorial event taking place at Forest Lawn Long Beach on the evening of December 21st. He encouraged Commissioners to attend the event, hosted by the Long Beach Homeless Coalition, which memorializes homeless people who may not otherwise be recognized or mourned. Finally, Orozco encouraged Commissioners to stay active and connected with Commissioner staff by sharing their availability for stakeholder interviews. He would like to see one or two Commissioners at each stakeholder interview, especially the ones with Councilmembers. To date, interviews have been conducted with Councilmembers Supernaw, Pearce, Price and Gonzalez, and interviews are scheduled with Austin, Andrews and Richardson. STAFF REPORT Staff reminded Commissioners of the need to complete their required ethics training by the December 28 deadline. At the meeting, each Commissioner was individually photographed by the City's photographer: These photos will serve various purposes, including Commissioner profiles for the Facebook group page. Accordingly, staff will be contacting the Commissioners to provide their bios early next year. 18-070VA Recommendation to discuss a panel co-hosted by the Commission and US VETS next Spring Chair Orozco, also a case manager at US VETS, will be spearheading the next Veterans panel to be co-hosted by US VETS and the Veterans Commission in March. As with the previous panel in May 2018, the focus on Veteran education and employment opportunities, but more interactive in nature with employers in attendance and opportunities for Veterans to network with employeres. Veterans at Century Villages at Cabrillo and local colleges (Long Beach City Colleage and Cal State) are the target audience. Discussion followed. Orozco asked for a few volunteers to form a Veterans panel subcommittee to assist with planning, organizing and promoting the event. Commissioners Antes, Page 2 of 4 CITY OF LONG BEACH WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2018 VETERANS AFFAIRS HEALTH DEPARTMENT MAIN BUILDING COMMISSION MINUTES 2525 GRAND AVENUE, ROOM 204, 5:00 PM Doplemore and Shaknovich volunteered to participate in this subcommittee. This VA-Agenda Item was received and filed. 18-071VA Recommendation to discuss holiday greeting card At the meeting, the Commission was photographed as a group for the holiday greeting card. Staff plans to design a digital version of the card as well as print a limited number of hard copies. Staff asked Commissioners to consider whom they would like to send card copies to and to forward that information as soon as possible. Staff also asked Commissioners to send the digital version out to their contacts next week. This VA-Agenda Item was received and filed. 18-072VA Recommendation to discuss Veterans Commission Strategic Plan Staff introduced Zeena Aljawad, who is currently interning with Councilmember Richardson's office as well as the Health Department. She is helping Veterans Commission staff with strategic planning work as well as working with the Office of Equity. In addition to Aljawad, a new Health Department administrative intern, Ebony Blaine, will also be assisting with strategic planning work. Commission staff and Health Department Collective Impact and Operations Bureau Manager, Ginger Lee, briefly reviewed strategic planning progress to date, noting revisions to the timeline related to completing the literature review, the stakeholder interviews and interview data analysis with intern support.Lee proposed that a Commissioners' retreat take place in February at an offsite location such as Rancho Los Alamitos. Discussion followed. The Commission agreed on a tentative date for the retreat: February 19, 2019. Lee also reported on a recent meeting with a Councilmember who expressed interest in financially supporting the work of a strategic planning consultant. Such a consultant could help with specific tasks such as data analysis and facilitating focus groups at an estimated cost of $40,000. It was suggested that each Commissioner reach out to their respective Councilmembers (who have already been interviewed or will be soon) to ask for their financial support. This VA-Agenda Item was received and filed. Page 3 of 4 CITY OF LONG BEACH WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2018 VETERANS AFFAIRS HEALTH DEPARTMENT MAIN BUILDING COMMISSION MINUTES 2525 GRAND AVENUE, ROOM 204, 5:00 PM ANNOUNCEMENTS There were no new announcements. FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS Commission Chair and Vice Chair elections will take place at the next meeting. Chair Orozco encouraged Commissioners to nominate themselves or someone else for these positions by emailing Commission staff. The US VETS/Veterans Commission panel will also be on the agenda. HOLIDAY POTLUCK ADJOURNMENT Chair Orozco adjourned the meeting at 5:48 p.m. Page 4 of 4