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Annual Meeting October 11, 2002 Radisson Hotel – Casper, WY The meeting was called to
order by acting chairperson, Jolene Lux.
Those present and introducing themselves and their agency were: Geri
Browing, Mary Kay Stafford, Ranae Baldes, Sharon Montagnino, Linda Tangeman,
Donna Goodman, Carroll Westlake, Irene Martinez, Candace Martinez, Julie Hahn,
Elizabeth Ramirez, Shirley Martinez, Rose Kor, Loretta Weems, Donna Duncan and
Jolene Lux. It was a consensus to extend
voting privileges to everyone present at the meeting. The dues are $20.00 for individual and organizational dues are
$50.00 and are payable as soon as possible. The minutes of the last
Coalition meeting on February 1-2, 2001 were read by Secretary Donna Duncan. Sharon Montagnino made a motion to approve
the minutes as read. Renae Baldes
seconded the motion. The motion
carried. Treasurer, Loretta Weems
presented the Treasurer’s Report. As of
August 30, 2002, the Coalition’s checking account shows a balance of $3,147.38. The next order of business
was the election of officers. It was a
consensus of the group that persons nominated for positions must be present at
the meeting and must be willing to provide leadership for the course of their
terms. Renae Baldees was nominated and
unanimously elected Chairperson for a term of one year. Jolene Lux was nominated and unanimously
elected Chairperson-Elect for a term of two years. Carroll Westlake and Loretta Weems were nominated for
Treasurer and Carroll was elected to be
Treasurer for a term of two years. Donna
Goodman was nominated and unanimously elected Secretary for a term of one year. Discussion was held on a
suggestion form the Victim Studies Academy about the website with a chat room
and information for all victims. The
existing Coalition website is at www.vcn.com/~wcvc. Jolene stated that the Webmaster who created
the present web page is willing to help.
Jolene will contact this person and confirm his interest. The goal is to have the expanded website in
place by Victim’s Rights Week in April, 2002.
It was suggested that a .org website would be best. Jolene stated that a .org would cost
approximately $120.00. Sharon
Montagnino made a motion to establish a .org website with a victim friendly
address, keeping the name as close to Wyoming Crime Victims Coalition as
possible. Geri Browning seconded the
motion. The motion carried. Sharon Montagnino made a motion to spend
$200.00 to fix the broken links in the present website, to establish a website
committee, to work on enhancements and to establish a chat room. Geri Browning seconded the motion. The motion carried. Candice Martinez, Rose Kor and Elizabeth
Ramirez volunteered to serve on the website Committee. Discussion was held on the
goals for the Coalition that were established at the February 2001
meeting. Those goals are: 1. Provide an organizational structure 2. Networking and the sharing of information 3. Identifying sources of funding 4. Training-certification, new advocate training 5. Establishment of a Crisis Response Team 6. Recruiting and training of volunteers 7. Developing legislative issues for the budget year 8. Domestic violence issues 9. Enhancements of compensation 10. Communication The Crisis Response Team has been
established and trained. The website
will also be a good means of communicating and listing Coalition members. Several fund raisers have taken place,
including selling Christin Lamb Foundation cookbooks as well as carwashes. Emergency Management will do a training
session at no fee. It was discussed and
agreed that a good use of time would be for quarterly Coalition meetings to
have a training component. The annual
Division of Victim Services Conference held every August will be on quarterly
meeting time. Concerning legislation,
Sharon will send the proposed modifications of domestic violence to all. More information is needed on developing the
program for the certification of victim advocates. Pennsylvania and Wisconsin have certification in place. These two states may be able to provide
Wyoming with information about how each state established their programs. Sharon will have more details about
certification ready for the next Coalition meeting. Sharon suggested that two of
the ten goals be selected as the next emphasis for the Coalition. Communication – the work on the website and
training- quarterly training in conjunction with Coalition meetings were
discussed by the group. Geri Browning
made a motion to identify communication and training as the two goals for the
next focus by the Coalition. Linda
Tangeman seconded the motion, the motion carried. Committee members: Training Committee
– Shirley Martinez, Julie Hahn, Irene Martinez, Carroll Westlake Networking and
Communication – Candice Martinez, Rose Kor, Elizabeth Ramirez Finance –
Loretta Weems, Carroll Westlake Legislation –
Toni Richenbach, Dick Fullmer, Sharon Montagnino Public Relations – Members are the Executive Board of the Coalition –
Renae Baldes, Jolene Lux, Carroll Westlake and Donna Goodman Loretta Weems stated that as
long as she has funds for victim mileage to attend Parole Board Meetings, she
will pay the mileage. However, when the
funds are depleted, Loretta will be contacting the other programs around the
State for help. It was noted that the
surcharge monies may be used for the mileage costs. Fifteen percent (15%) of the surcharge money returned to local
programs is to be set aside for emergency victim assistance. Questions were raised about
the procedures for the Wyoming Parole Board.
Loretta Weems volunteered to contact the Parole Board about a training
for the Coalition. Sharon made a motion
that the Parole Board be the topic for training at the Coalition meeting
possibly to be held in June, 2003.
Jolene seconded the motion, the motion carried. There being no further
business, the meeting was adjourned. Respectfully submitted, Donna Duncan, Secretary |