HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-YBAB-2013-02-01J:\Executive Assistant\IYB Advisory Board\2013\IYB Advisory Board Minutes 021213.doc
February 12, 2013
Meeting Minutes
Attendance: William Murphy, George McGonigal, Steve Smith, Chris Milner,
Eric Nichols, Shannon Terry and Patrick Hollister
Absent: Mark Darling
Staff: Liz Vance, Jen Handy, Suki Tabor and Jody A. Hallett-Harris
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Meeting called to order by Shannon Terry at 6:05 p.m.
Review and approval of Minutes:
The Minutes from January 8, 2013 were approved unanimously –Chris Milner made the motion and Shannon Terry
2nd the motion, all were in favor.
Suki Tabor came and gave the Board some wonderful detailed information regarding the Youth Employment
Service Program (Y.E.S. Program). She advised that the target age range for kids is 14 and 15 year olds. In 2012
they served 284 kids and of these, 30% were 15 years old. They are seeing more long range kids in their program,
meaning that they are staying involved in the program longer. Last year 470 kids did multiple jobs with the
program, 49% participated in more than one way, whether working a job or doing workshops. Currently they are
working with the RSS Program for Inclusion Specialist and this year they will have two Inclusion Assistant spots.
They will be working with several different local organizations such as: AFCU for the Bill Myers Internship; Youth
Farm Project; Partnership with Cornell Dining Services; Downtown Ithaca Alliance; State Parks; Cass Park;
Wegmans and Old Navy. YES will be working with Mike Armitage-Blakely for a Lifeguard Training and
Certification and this has spots available for subsidized kids in the YES Program. They will be having three
workshops this spring for the following areas: Resumes, 1st Impressions and Keeping a Job. Suki discussed the fact
that funding streams have been all over the map and she is very proud and impressed with her staff and how very
dedicated and creative they are!! They have been trying to come up with new ways to keep the kids interested and
yet still learn. They have 50 worksites currently in the area and they are working with local hotels and with Schelly
Hunn at HR to get a program set up that would work with people ages 18-30 to help find and train entry level
positions within the hotel. They would love to be able to work with other corporations including Aeropostel, FedEx,
UPS, BorgWarner, etc. Suki asked that if the board is ever able to assist with an “in” with any area businesses or
organization to please contact her. She discussed briefly the impact of the proposed minimum wage increase of
$1.50 and how it would effect the program. She asked that we contact our local legislators and ask that it be delayed
until later in the year or done in increments it would have a less critical impact than all at once. Shannon Terry
advised that she had heard of a grant that the United Way was doing for funds for youth employment. She will find
out more information and get this to Suki.
Jen Handy handout a allocation of monies received from the Friends of the IYB. They had given over $24,000 so
far and wanted the board to see where the monies were allocated. Currently they have 12 Board Members and are
working on putting together a Marketing committee and they would like to collaborate with us on this.
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Shannon discussed the Jump on Board Event that Tompkins Connect is hosting. There are 50 local organizations
that will be there and they are looking for board members and volunteers. Shannon and Jen will have a table for the
Board there and Chris Milner and Eric stated they may be able to help out too. It will be held on 2/27 at the Holiday
Inn from 5-8:00 p.m.
Liz suggested that Jen contact Mary Grainger and see if she could help with postings for recruitment. George stated
that he can post again for next month’s meeting to see if folks would like to attend. Jody will send a reminder out to
him before the next Board Meeting. Shannon stated that if someone is interested she would be willing to meet with
them and talk about the Board before they actually come to a meeting.
The Monitoring Schedule was reviewed and discussed again. Jody had emailed the Board with
monitoring/shadowing times that were the best for Supervisor/Coordinators. At next month’s meeting we will come
up with a Master Schedule of Monitoring/Shadowing, so all members are asked to review the times and plan on
having times and dates scheduled. Steve Smith volunteered to monitor BBBS and asked that the monitoring
questions from the BBBS program be forwarded to him as soon as possible. Shannon Terry volunteered to shadow
the Outing Program.
The following members have volunteered to monitor/shadow as follows:
Bill Murphy: College Discovery Program
Computer All Stars
Paul Schreurs Memorial Program
Chris Milner Y.E.S. Program
George McGonigal: RSS Program
Eric Nichols: Youth Council
Steve Smith BBBS
Shannon Terry Outing
Liz advised that in October the City adopted the Living Wage Policy which is scheduled to go into effect this July.
As a Living Wage Employee the city will pay seasonal workers who are with the city for 90 days or longer the
Living Wage of $12.78 which is determined by the Tompkins County Workers Center. It is not mandatory for all
employers, but it is encouraged throughout Tompkins County so that people are able to earn a wage that they can
truly live on. Steve stated that Common Council did adopt this Living Wage Policy and that money has been set
aside for 2013 to cover the increased rates of pay. Several questions have come up for the YB and Cass Park about
implementing the Living Wage due to the seasonal nature of various jobs and circumstances of programs. Staff
plans to meet with HR and with Pete Meyers from the TC Workers Center to clarify the Living Wage Certificate
guidelines. Liz will send the Board the link to the Tompkins County Living Wage website.
A minimum wage increase has been proposed by the Governor of $8.75, which would go into effect July 1st if it’s
passed. Many of our summer positions are at minimum wage and this increase will have a direct impact on our
2013 budget. This will have a ripple effect to balance out the positions and create the different levels of pay for
workers and this will have to be addressed. We've heard there are suggestions of phasing the increase in over time
and possibly using a training wage for a limited time. Liz will keep us posted on this as it goes forward.
There was a lengthy discussion regarding the State Budget and the attached letter email that was recently sent out to
Barbara Lifton’s office, as they are getting ready to go to Albany for discussion and this was also sent to legislators
and Board Assoc., etc. The one key issue, again, is to change the definition of a municipality; this has founds its
way back on the proposal for 2014. If this went through then counties would receive the state funding and they
would decide who receives those funds. This will effect all city and town youth bureaus that are currently thriving
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as they would no longer be able to receive those funds directly. Counties would receive those monies and they
would distribute them. The state is looking for ways to streamline and lessen their points of contact. We receive
approximately $37,000 in funding from the state currently and cutting of these funds would significantly effect
programming. We are strongly advocating against this proposal. Updates will be provided as we receive them.
7:40 p.m. ADJOURNMENT