Ann Land and Bertha Henschel Memorial Funds Commission Meeting - May 29, 2024

The Ann Land and Bertha Henschel Memorial Funds Commission met on Wednesday, May 29, 2024, at 5:30 PM at City Hall Complex, 915 I Street, Sacramento. President Talbott Smith presided. The meeting was called to order with a quorum of eight commissioners present (Beckman, Ellis, Hinojosa, Korbs, Ruhl, Yanez, Zamanudin, and President Smith). Ex Officio Chan was absent. The meeting included a land acknowledgement, pledge of allegiance, and lasted about 1 hour 28 minutes, adjourning at 6:58 PM. The commission approved routine items, discussed grant cycle updates for 2025, reviewed semi-annual reports, and considered the impact of late report submissions on future eligibility.

Consent Calendar

• Item 1 – Approval of Meeting Minutes: Passed a motion approving the Ann Land and Bertha Henschel Memorial Funds Commission Meeting Minutes dated January 31, 2024.
• Item 2 – 2024 Site Visit Assignments: Passed a motion adopting the assignment list for 2024 grant recipient site visits.
• Note: Item 3 (2025 Grant Cycle Dates, Forms and Process) was moved to the Discussion Calendar as it was improperly placed in the agenda.
• Vote on Consent Calendar: Motion by Commissioner Yanez, second by Commissioner Zamanudin. All present voted aye. Motion passed.

Public Comments & Testimony

• No members of the public spoke on any agenda item during the meeting.

Discussion Items

• Item 4 – Review of Updated Council Rules of Procedure: Staff presented a change to city council rules limiting legislative body meetings to three hours and requiring a vote to continue past two hours. The commission discussed the impact on their November funding meeting, which has historically run longer. No action was taken as this item was for review only.
• Item 3 – 2025 Grant Cycle Dates, Forms and Process: The commission reviewed and discussed each document in the 2025 grant cycle package, including funding priorities, guidelines, application, evaluation matrix, and awards matrix. Key changes included:
  • Adding "transportation" to the funding priorities.
  • Clarifying the definition of "housing with wraparound services" to specify services designed "to improve self-reliance."
  • Updating dates to 2025 and noting that the funding meeting will be on November 6, 2024.
  • Deciding not to require oral presentations from applicants but to maintain the requirement for a representative to be present to answer questions.
  • The awards matrix will be displayed without the request column to avoid confusion during the funding meeting.
  • No changes were made to the grant guidelines, application, evaluation matrix, or pre-meeting scores form aside from date updates and minor typographical corrections.
• Item 5 – Semiannual Reports for July–December 2023: Staff reported that all late reports were eventually submitted, including two grantees (Center for Employment Opportunities and Salvation Army) that returned unspent funds ($2,000 and $1,953 respectively). The commission discussed whether late submissions should affect future grant eligibility. After debate, there was consensus that a consequence is warranted, but the specific penalty (e.g., warning, score reduction, or disqualification) will be determined at a future meeting. Staff was instructed to prepare proposed language for the funding agreement and to place the item on the next meeting's agenda.
• Commissioner Comments: No comments were made.
• Public Comments – Matters Not on the Agenda: None.

Key Outcomes

• Consent Calendar Approved: Minutes of January 31, 2024, and site visit assignments for 2024 were adopted unanimously.
• 2025 Grant Cycle Updates Approved: The commission voted to adopt the updated 2025 Annual Commission Funding Priorities, Grant Guidelines and Application, Pre-meeting Scores Form, Grant Evaluation Matrix, and Awards Matrix Form (Motion by Yanez, second by Hinojosa; all present voted aye). Key modifications include adding transportation as a funding priority and refining wraparound services language.
• Late Report Penalties Deferred: The commission agreed that late submission of semi-annual reports should impact future grant eligibility. Staff will draft revised funding agreement language and present options (e.g., warning, score reduction, or disqualification) at the next meeting for a decision.
• Council Rule Noted: The new city council rule limiting legislative body meetings to three hours was acknowledged; no formal action was taken.