Commission Minutes

Public Comment Period (Tilton-Flood): No members of the public requested an opportunity to speak.

Present: Chair Jenifer Tilton-Flood, Ed Barrett, F. Celeste Branham, Stacie Haines, Matt L’Italien, Zachery Maher, Robert Meinders, Jessica Nixon, John Portela, Pamela Proulx-Curry, Nathaniel Rudy, Luke Shorty.

Guest: Orion Breen, Maine Volunteer Foundation

Call to Order: Chair Tilton-Flood called the meeting to order at 10:06 a.m.

Welcome, Announcements, Agenda Adjustments: Commissioners introduced themselves and stated which seats they held on the Commission. Staff were also introduced. Executive Director Crofton noted the passing of Suzanne Goucher of the Maine Association of Broadcasters, saying that she had been very helpful to the Commission and a wonderful colleague. Chair Tilton-Flood then thanked Communications Officer Bryan Roche for installing a new and improved A/V setup for Commission meetings. There were no additions or deletions to the agenda.

Consent Agenda: There were no concerns about the consent agenda.
MOTIONED by Shorty to approve the agenda. SECONDED by Proulx-Curry. Vote on the motion: In favor – Chair Tilton-Flood, Barrett, Branham, Haines, L’Italien, Maher, Meinders, Nixon, Portela, Proulx-Curry, Rudy, Shorty. Opposed – none. Motion passed.

Items approved by the motion were the Commission meeting minutes for December 17, 2021, the reports of the Executive Committee meetings for January 6, 2022 and February 3, 2022, and the Communications Task Force meetings on January 11, 2022 and February 8, 2022.

Planning and Future Initiatives.  
Climate Corps

A.    Report Briefing (Crofton): The Commission should expect to use federal climate corps training guidelines and a common curriculum as primary references for its own climate corps, as a federal interagency council is currently developing such standards.  Climate Corps Planner Klibansky’s interviews with relevant experts indicated that a set of specific programs must be rolled out from within the corps, that grantees must be committed to a similar climate mission, and that only the most recent scientific findings should be used by administrators if the corps is to be maximally effective. 
B.    Overview of L.D. 1974 (Crofton): The Appropriations Committee hearing for L.D. 1974 is on Monday, February 28, 2022; reported legislative priorities for supplemental funding will be mental health and housing; however, the bill’s language about the Commission’s responsibilities is not contingent upon appropriation. The three appropriations implement recommendations in the report. Haines added that Commissioners are welcome to testify to the Legislature in favor of the bill or submit a written opinion.
C.    Status of Climate Corps Coordinator position (Crofton): The job was recently posted.  

Focus on Mission Responsibilities.
A.    Report from the ASC convening of Commissioners and Executive Directors (Shorty): Shorty and Crofton attended this conference virtually. Among the topics discussed were strategies for filling empty seats on state service commissions, personnel updates from the AmeriCorps federal agency, and an opportunity to ask questions from the new AmeriCorps CEO, Michael D. Smith. Smith said that he will commit to having regular “big picture” meetings with state executive directors and will address match formulas and transparency in the coming months. Shorty noted he is impressed with what ASC and its legislative arm, States for Service, offers. He challenged commissioners to join him in contributing funds to pay dues for States for Service.
B.    Maine Volunteer Foundation update (Breen): Several organizations have reached out to MDF about funding Maine Service Fellows. Additionally, MDF has recently engaged with Portland Regional Chamber of Commerce and is on the agenda of the next meeting of Maine State Chamber of Congress. 

Business Reports
Grant Selection and Performance Task Force (Barrett): The task force recommends requiring the minimum living allowance  for any Maine AmeriCorps member in a formula program be set at $20,000 out of concern that the current full-time living allowance is a cost barrier to prospective members. It also proposes to increase the 2022 cost per member service year (MSY) for Formula programs to $26,000.

Barrett MOTIONED to increase the minimum living allowance to $20,000 and total cost per MSY for Formula grants to $26,000. SECONDED by Branham. 
Vote on the motion: In favor – Chair Tilton-Flood, Barrett, Branham, Haines, L’Italien, Maher, Meinders, Nixon, Portela, Proulx-Curry, Rudy, Shorty. Opposed – none. Motion passed.

Barrett proceeded to detail the task force’s feedback on a request from Student Conservation Association, an AmeriCorps National Direct applicant intending to operate a service project in Maine. The task force concluded that this request does not conflict with the Commission’s burgeoning Climate Corps program or any current grantee’s service project; it will also further the Commission’s priorities of climate action and environmental protection.

MOTIONED by Barrett that the Commission recommend Student Conservation’s National direct application to the AmeriCorps federal agency. SECONDED by L’Italien. 
Vote on the motion: In favor – Chair Tilton-Flood, Barrett, Branham, Haines, L’Italien, Maher, Meinders, Nixon, Portela, Proulx-Curry, Rudy, Shorty. Opposed – none. Motion passed.

Barrett then addressed the Commission’s capacity to support two planning grants that can be six or twelve months in duration. Funds that were not used by programs in the last fiscal year can cover the cost of these grants.

MOTIONED by Barrett to use unspent program funding from 2021-2022 to support two planning grants. SECONDED by Branham.
Vote on the motion: In favor – Chair Tilton-Flood, Barrett, Branham, Haines, L’Italien, Maher, Meinders, Nixon, Portela, Proulx-Curry, Rudy, Shorty. Opposed – none. Motion passed.

Excellence and Expertise Task Force (Proulx-Curry): This task force is now accepting applications for new members.

Research and Evaluation Task Force (Shorty): The task force’s Climate Corps priorities may evolve as L.D. 1974 progresses through the Legislature. This task force will next meet on March 18, 2022.

Maine Service Fellows Task Force (Branham): A program advisory committee of ten people from the public, nonprofit, and private sectors has been constituted to aid Maine Service Fellows. So far, the group has met twice to review legislation and compare service programs in other states; pertaining to this topic, Program Officer Kelsey Preecs assisted with examining site selection criteria from around the U.S. The advisory committee hopes to soon finalize site selection criteria and member applicant criteria.

Board Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (D.E.I.) Subcommittee (Branham): Thenera Bailey, a consultant from SISGI, will review the Commission’s identity statement and submit a proposal detailing how she plans to work with the Commission to improve D.E.I. practices.

National Public Policy Committee of States (Crofton, Maher): Maher expressed that he may need to transition into a different role and no longer represent the Commission on States for Service, a change that the Commission should consider in future meetings.

Commission Staff Reports: Roche reported that several independent radio stations have been great supporters of the Commission’s broadcast efforts. He will focus more on broadcast partnerships in every region of Maine.

Preecs added that the Maine Masonic Charitable Foundation awarded a grant to Volunteer Maine to improve youth service-learning opportunities. It will enable the Commission to approach community organizations and develop service-learning projects.

Training Officer Michael Ashmore said that the Commission recently entered into a contract with Racial Equity + Justice to improve D.E.I. training for grantees so that they can better provide service to marginalized groups in Maine. An online course for grantee staff is being rolled out.

Business Wrap-Up:  The next Commission meeting will be on April 15th, 2022.

Chair Tilton-Flood adjourned the business meeting at 12:08 p.m.