PINELLAS JUVENILE JUSTICE COUNCIL

REGULAR MEETING MINUTES

November 18, 2004 9:00 a.m.

Election Service Center

14255 – 49^th Street North, Suite 202

Clearwater, FL 33762

DRAFT
To be approved on January 27, 2005
E-mail comments to Jackie Griffin-Doherty

Present: 34

Jackie Griffin-Doherty—Operation PAR (Chair)	Tammy Hillier-Flowers—Boys & Girls Club (Vice Chair)
Karen Segerberg—Justice & Consumer Svs. (Secretary)	John Feeney—Advocate/Minister (Parliamentarian)
Vance Arnett—State Attorney’s Office	Stephanie Bell—E.D.I.P. Daniel Memorial
Tom Camp—Operation PAR	Erin Fitzgerald—YMCA of the Suncoast
Jane Gallucci—Pinellas County School Board	David Hawkins—St. Petersburg Police Dept.
Tony Hinson—Juvenile Welfare Board	Linda Jones—Pinellas County Schools
Bonnie McClelland—Suncoast Yellow Ribbon	Chris Ortiz—Braveheart Youth Foundation
Kathleen Peters—YMCA of Greater St. Pete	David Plyer—justice4kids.org
Stephanie Prestwood—DCF/ADM	Monica Quioco—Boley Centers
Dennis Segall—The Refuge/C.R.Y.S.	Elizabeth Shaw—Gulf Coast Community Care
Judy Smith—Clearwater Police Department	Matthew Sullivan—Medic Alert
Kaye Thompson—Clerk of the Circuit Court	Frank Valdez—Community Member
Stacey Welton—Family Resources	Michael Whalen—Suncoast Center for CMH
Rev. Bruce Wright—The Refuge/Solid Rock	Joe Aschenbrenner—Family Resources
Jeannie Lewis—West Care	Colleen Kowalezyk (for Ann Kelley)—Directions for MH
Cathy Corry—Dept. of Juvenile Justice	Timothy Niermann—Dept. of Juvenile Justice
James Uliasz—Dept. of Juvenile Justice	Diana Matthews—justice4kids.org
New Attendees: 14
Todd Hoover—Sport Story Publishing	Jamie Filion—BAYS/IDDS
Al Jackson—Victory House Ministries	Edyth Smith—Parent
Andrea Borkowski—Parent	Philip Wirth—Bayside High School
Tom Murray—Bayside High School	Kenneth Bamberg—Bayside High School
Mike White—Refuge Ministries	Miguel Hernandez—Critical Resistance
Ed Short—Sheriff’s Office	Daniel Warshowsky—The Refuge
Robert Matthews—The Refuge	Marquita (McGuire) Roye—Dept. of Juvenile Justice

Absent: 31

John Abruzzo—PEMHS	Troy Adams—Coalition for a Safe/Drug Free St. Pete
Curtis Anderson—Boley Centers	David Archie—Citizens Alliance for Progress
Mary Ann Assiff—Youth Arts Corp	Rod Bisson—Sheriff’s Office
Tina Booze—Smart Fighter Institute	Phyllis Cloman—Marriage & Family Center
Linda Cooke—Sheriff’s Office	Terri Costello—Girls Scouts of Suncoast Council
Isabella Cox—Juvenile Services Program	Beverly Eller—Community Member
Pat Gerard—Family Resources	Khush Jagus—Pinellas County Schools
Mary Jo Kurchinski—Sheriff’s Office	Marshall Lester, Jr.—R’ Club Child Care
Carol Madura—Pinellas County Schools	Braden Malnic—Operation PAR
Julie Matheney—The Refuge	Lynn Mattiace—Pinellas County Schools
Sharon Monteleone—United Way	Herbert Murphy, Sr.—Boys & Girls Club
James Myles—Bethel Community Foundation	Lonnie Reddick—Dept. of Corrections
Donna Sicilian—Pinellas County Schools	Stephen Slaughter—Largo Police Department
Tom Toy—Juvenile Arbitration	Nancy Zambito—Pinellas County Schools
Sally Zeh—PACE Center for Girls	Pat McGhee—Dept. of Juvenile Justice
Randy Tennant—Dept. of Juvenile Justice

Call to Order, Welcome, Meeting Dedication: The meeting was called to order by Chair Jackie Griffin-Doherty at 9:15 a.m. There was no meeting dedication.

Roll Call, Introductions: The Parliamentarian proceeded with roll call. It was indicated by another member that Frank Valdez and Dennis Segall would be late. Guests were asked if they would like to introduce themselves. The Parliamentarian then proceeded to read a written statement to members regarding the previous Executive Committee Meeting. The reading of this statement was not an agenda item.

Approval of Minutes: The minutes of the October 28, 2004 regular Council Meeting were approved as presented.

Chief Probation Officer Report: Tim Niermann reported on Article V, the legislation that was passed last spring that transfers pre-adjudication costs to the County (approximately $90 million). The League of Counties filed a lawsuit and this past week it was ruled that the legislation was not passed correctly through the legislature. This means that the Department will have to come up with the money to operate the detention centers. Implications are that there may be cutbacks in various areas, which will result in a reduction in services. Mr. Niermann further reported that the re-organization of the Department has been pushed back until after the first of the year.

Prevention Specialist Report: Pat McGhee was not present at this meeting. Tim Niermann reported that a Grant Committee will need to be established and once the funding information is available, it will be emailed to all Council members.

Standing Committee Reports

Outreach Committee: Chris Ortiz reported that the final Inquiry Meeting held at the Union Academy Family Center in Tarpon Springs on October 28, 2004 had better results than the previous meetings. The Outreach Committee has turned in the information to the Planning Committee for review and addition to the Strategic Plan. The Council Chair informed the Council members that the recommendations of the final report of the Outreach Committee begin on page 57 of the Strategic Plan.

Planning Committee: Jackie Griffin-Doherty reported that the Planning Committee met on November 10, 2004. There is a change to the Strategic Plan document that she had originally distributed. The Planning Committee had hoped that the Juvenile Welfare Board would release their final report regarding school readiness data, however, it was determined that it was not yet ready for public dissemination. It was, therefore, removed from the Plan. Copies of the meeting minutes will be distributed to all Council members as soon as possible. The next meeting of the Planning Committee will be on December 16, 2004 at the Election Service Center at 9:00 a.m.

Special Committee Reports

Circuit Board Nomination Committee: Kathleen Peters reported that the issue was discussed at the Executive Committee Meeting on November 10, 2004. There are still some things that need to be worked out regarding the slate of candidates. It was suggested that the issue be postponed until January. Those present at the meeting agreed to holding a special session in January regarding nominations and elections. Ms. Peters encouraged all to attend. One of the questions that arose at the meeting was that of the Council Chair being a voting member of the Circuit Board. Several members present at the meeting felt that the Council Chair should have a vote. The by-laws imply that the representative from the Council should be a named person, not an entity. Several members felt that it should be an entity, not a named person.

Ms. Peters moved that the by-laws be amended to reflect that the Council Chair be appointed as a voting member of the Circuit Board. The Council Chair reminded members that a 21-day notice is required to amend the by-laws. Discussion ensued. A concern was raised that having the Council Chair appointed as a voting member is not seen as positive. If there are 8 people representing the Council for Pinellas County, and the Chair is one of them and is able to vote, that leaves only 7 effective members. This will only take away another person that can give input from our side to give a balanced Circuit Board. The Council Chair clarified that Pinellas County has 7 members, not 8. Appointing the Chair as a voting member would bring the remainder to 6.

The Chair asked the Statewide Board and Council Coordinator, Marquita McGuire, how other Circuits handle this. Ms. McGuire reported that, to her knowledge, the Council Chairs statewide do sit on their Circuit Boards as voting members. A consideration regarding this issue would be that if the slate of candidates are not members of the Council, then they do not have input from the Chair, who is familiar with the issues of the Council. The state allows flexibility for each Council, therefore it is up to the Council to decide. A member of the Council related that there are some members of the Council on the slate of nominees.

Judy Smith moved that the Council have the Chair as a voting member on the Circuit Board. Kathleen Peters seconded the motion. Clarification was made that it be the position appointed, not the person. A member offered a point of information that the members of the Circuit Board are appointed to a 2-year term, whereas the Council Chair only sits for a shorter term. The Council Chair coming in as a new member would weaken our position. Clarification was made by the Chair that the officers of the Council serve 2-year terms, so there wouldn’t be a problem.

A vote was taken via a show of hands. 23 votes were counted. A question was raised as to whether those voting are all voting members. A re-vote was conducted via a roll call conducted by the Parliamentarian. Those in favor (21): Jane Gallucci, Linda Jones, Karen Segerberg, Stephanie Prestwood, David Hawkins, Tammy Hillier-Flowers, Chris Ortiz, Tony Hinson, Stephanie Bell, Tom Camp, Erin Fitzgerald, Kathleen Peters, Stacey Welton, David Plyer, Bonnie McClelland, Elizabeth Shaw, Kaye Thompson, Michael Whalen, Judy Smith, Vance Arnett and Monica Quioco. Those opposed (5): Matt Sullivan, Frank Valdez, John Feeney, Dennis Segall and Bruce Wright. Abstentions (2): Jackie Griffin-Doherty and Cathy Corry. Motion carried.

Questions arose about amending the by-laws due to this vote. Tom Camp moved to amend the by-laws to reflect the Council approval of appointing the Chair as a voting member of the Circuit Board. A reminder was given that by-law amendments require a 21-day notice. It was agreed that a notice would be sent out following the 21-day requirement that at the January Council meeting, a motion will be made and voted on to amend the by-laws to reflect the afore-mentioned vote.

Zero Tolerance Committee: Bruce Wright reported that the Committee met on November 17, 2004 at the Juvenile Welfare Board. He invited students to that meeting, as well as today’s Council meeting. At the meeting, Rev. Wright shared research into the correlation of crime/arrest data as compiled by the Juvenile Assessment Center and the statistical data on arrests within Pinellas County Schools. He included charges for such things as Disruption of School Environment, Disorderly Conduct, Obstruction and Trespassing. Rev. Wright also shared with the committee the results of two major studies conducted in the area of Zero Tolerance Policy (The Kentucky Study and Zero Tolerance: Is It Worth It?). He quoted the American Bar Association resolution against Zero Tolerance. Rev. Wright shared with the committee a perceived incident of misapplication of policy. Some of the youth present at the Zero Tolerance Committee shared some of their experiences with committee members. The committee plans to meet again in December, date and time to be announced.

Jane Gallucci, Pinellas County School Board, explained that the Zero Tolerance Policy comes from the legislature. She covered the discipline options for youth, depending on the charges, from tele-schooling to alternate site placement. Ms. Gallucci offered to give Rev. Wright a copy of the new policy regarding parent notification. She reported that the state is very specific on who takes the FCAT and who doesn’t. Ms. Gallucci offered to have a representative from the School District sit down with the Committee and discuss the issues, and maybe they can go to the legislature and get the laws changed. Ms. Gallucci also reported that the Student Code of Conduct is revised every year, and completely redone every three years, with the opportunity for input.

Vance Arnett brought up the need to understand the difference between policy and the application of policy and whether the interpretation of policy has to result in an arrest in Pinellas County. He suggested that the Zero Tolerance Committee focus on that. The Chair asked Rev. Wright if the Committee had any recommendations to bring forth at this time. Rev. Wright concurred with Mr. Arnett’s suggestion and reported that the Committee would need more time to put forth any recommendations. The Chair suggested amending the name of the Committee to the Zero Tolerance and Application of Policy Committee. Chris Ortiz reported that he is standing down as Co-Chair of the Committee. Matt Sullivan will be Co-Chair with Rev. Wright.

Tom Camp requested that Rev. Wright disseminate research study information that they come across in their Committee work. An attendee from Bayside High School asked Rev. Wright whether the research that they had looked at had been subject to Academic Peer Review. Rev. Wright assured that they had been. At the time of the present Council meeting, minutes from the Zero Tolerance Committee had not yet been made available to Council members in hard copy format. The Chair suggested that all Committee chairs make an effort to have hard copies of minutes to distribute at all Council meetings.

Old Business

Meeting Location and Time: Cathy Corry brought forth the proposal of new meeting locations and the addition of some evening meetings so that those who cannot make meetings during the day may attend. Tammy Hillier-Flowers discussed the distributed handout of proposals regarding public meeting locations for 2005 Council meetings. The proposals included the Juvenile Welfare Board (Executive Committee Meetings) and the City of Largo and City of Pinellas Park (Regular Council Meetings). She pointed out that the City of Largo and the City of Pinellas Park will require that their employees be paid overtime if these facilities are used in the evenings. A member pointed out that we need to remember those in North County and keep the meetings as central as possible. The Chair pointed out that the Election Service Center is also an option.

A member of the Outreach Committee reminded everyone of their recommendation to replace the Special Inquiry Meetings with Regular Council Meetings in the evenings, in alternate sites throughout the County (3 to 4 times per year). Discussion ensued. Vance Arnett moved to adopt the Pinellas Park facility as the main meeting location for Regular Council meetings, due to its central location, with one meeting held per quarter in the evening, in locations throughout the county. Discussion ensued. Motion seconded. The vote was conducted via roll call by the Parliamentarian. Those in favor (25): Jane Gallucci, Linda Jones, Karen Segerberg, Stephanie Prestwood, Judy Smith, David Hawkins, Tammy Hillier-Flowers, Chris Ortiz, Tony Hinson, Stephanie Bell, Tom Camp, Erin Fitzgerald, Kathleen Peters, Monica Quioco, Stacey Welton, David Plyer, Matt Sullivan, Frank Valdez, Bonnie McClelland, Elizabeth Shaw, Kaye Thompson, Michael Whalen, John Feeney, Dennis Segall and Bruce Wright. Abstentions (1): Jackie Griffin-Doherty. None opposed. Motion carried. The Chair requested that the Secretary note in the minutes that the issue of Cathy Corry voting is still being discussed in terms of the definition of her role to the Council. The Chair stopped all discussion regarding the issue of Ms. Corry’s contract with the Department, determining that it is a Human Resources issue that is to be handled outside of the Council.

Ms. Hillier-Flowers suggested that the Outreach Committee secure the locations for the evening meetings. Mr. Ortiz, on behalf of the Outreach Committee, declined that responsibility, and suggested that the Council find members to handle that responsibility. The Chair offered to work with Tony Hinson to secure locations for the evening meetings. Michael Whalen also volunteered to assist.

Strategic Plan: Jackie Griffin-Doherty distributed copies of the Strategic Plan to date, including Appendix A (formulated by the Community Needs Committee) and Appendix B (formulated by the Outreach Committee). Requested changes were tracked per a request by Cathy Corry. In a separate document, requested changes from Dave Player were also tracked. For the record, it was noted by the Chair that it is not possible to formally track all recommended changes due to individual software differences among members. Some members submitted their recommendations via phone, some via email. Discussion ensued as to the reason for formally tracking changes. Ms. Griffin-Doherty reported that the majority of the changes that were made in Appendix B were regarding the data spreadsheet. She then distributed copies of the document with tracking of Mr. Plyer’s suggestions. Ms. Griffin-Doherty also informed Mr. Whalen that the changes he suggested were accidentally not brought to the meeting. Commentary was also received by Stephanie Prestwood and Tony Hinson. Time was given to review the documents.

Discussion ensued regarding the statement on page 5 in the main document that listed Operation PAR as the managing partner of the Pinellas Juvenile Assessment Center. Ms. Corry suggested that it be listed as a reference. Ms. Griffin-Doherty explained her reasoning for listing it in that manner. Ms. Griffin-Doherty agreed to modify any changes that the Council agrees to as a whole. Per Judy Smith, discussion then ensued regarding where the statistics regarding runaways were taken from on page 31 of the document. Ms. Smith reported that the statistics were inaccurate. Mr. Whalen then reported on the suggested change that he had previously emailed to Ms. Griffin-Doherty regarding gender specific services for young women (page 8). He specified changing the wording to be gender inclusive, rather than gender exclusive.

Ms. Griffin-Doherty explained that the Strategic Plan is a living document that has been worked on for 8 months. She recommended that it be approved today and amended in the upcoming year to include various recommended changes. Ms. Griffin-Doherty also reminded everyone that we had decided to change the name of the Zero Tolerance Committee to the Zero Tolerance and Application of Policy Committee. She reported that the section on page 15, item 8 is blank based on the recommendations forthcoming from the Zero Tolerance and Application of Policy Committee. A suggestion was made to change that to “pending further research by the Committee”, rather than leave it blank or with question marks.

Ms. Griffin-Doherty proposed that on page 58 of Appendix B, “the major topics of discussion, directly quoted from citizens in attendance” be amended to say “the major topics of discussion, paraphrased from citizens in attendance”, as not every item there is a direct quote. A member also suggested that we amend the sentence “members of the Council were present” to say “some members of the Council were present”, as clarification.

Mr. Arnett moved that the Council table the structure of the Strategic Plan and send it back to the Planning Committee to bring back a final version that is as inclusive as it can possibly be. Each contributing Committee needs to take a look at their Appendix and certify to the Council that the data that they want is there and make sure that it is correct before they send it forward for inclusion in the final document. The Council can then vote in January. Motion seconded. A vote was taken by voice. All in favor, none opposed. Motion passed. The next meeting of the Planning Committee is on December 16, 2004 at 9:00 a.m. at the Election Service Center.

New Business

Annual Report: Cathy Corry reported that a revision regarding the Annual Report of the Council was omitted from the original by-laws when submitted to Tallahassee for review. Our by-laws, therefore, do not reflect anything regarding an annual report. Ms. Corry moved that a by-laws revision be completed that would reinsert the omitted paragraph with an amendment that clarifies what the report includes and who will be preparing this report. The Parliamentarian stipulated that we have a quorum of at least ten voting members remaining in the meeting. Mr. Arnett reminded members that in order to change the by-laws, there is a requirement of 21 days notice. The motion was amended to stipulate that written notice will follow. Motion seconded. A vote was taken by voice. All in favor. None opposed. Motion carried.

Juvenile Arrest Records/Public Accessibility via Background Check: The Chair recommended that, in the interest of time (11:05 a.m.), this agenda item be postponed until the January meeting. No opposition was expressed.

Open Discussion/Announcements

The Chair opened up the floor to anyone with items related to Council business. Bonnie

McClelland stated for the record, that in regards to the Executive Committee Meeting minutes,

she does not blame the school system for her son’s death.

Dennis Segall spoke regarding being a teacher for many years, his experiences with the

system, and what we need to do for the kids.

An unidentified student spoke about times that meetings are held and difficulty in attending

daytime meetings.

Daniel Warshowsky spoke about an issue at one of the high schools regarding a memorial

service for a student, as well as an issue about a concert that he had attended.

Robert Matthews, Diana Matthews and Rev. Wright spoke about an incident that occurred

recently with law enforcement at the Matthews’ residence.

Todd Hoover spoke about his publishing company. The books are targeted for at-risk kids

between the ages of 10 and 15.

Adjournment: Judy Smith moved to adjourn the meeting at 11:25 a.m. Motion was

seconded. All in favor. None opposed. Motion carried. The next meeting of the Council will

be January 27, 2005 at 9:00 a.m. at the Pinellas Park Training Facility, 5851 Park Blvd.

11/23/04

K. Segerberg