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SOCIAL EQUITY COUNCIL | Governance Committee

Special Meeting of the Governance Committee of the Social Equity Council, September 29, 2021, 1pm 

AGENDA

1. Call to order
2. Governance Document
3. General Process for Council Meetings
4. General Process for Committee Meetings
5. SEC Staff / DECD Roles and Responsibilities
6. Next Meeting Date, going forward: 4th Wednesdays 1pm
7. Other Business
8. Adjournment

MINUTES

A special meeting of the Governance Committee of the Social Equity Council was held at 1pm on September 29, 2021 via Microsoft TEAMS.

1. Call to Order

Ojala Naeem, Chair of the Committee, noting the presence of a quorum, called the meeting to order.  Call to order

All committee members attended: Andrea Comer, Avery Gaddis, Michael Jefferson, David Lehman, Ojala Naeem

Staff present:  Ginne-Rae Clay, executive director

2. Governance Document

Ojala Naeem presented the draft governance document that was distributed before the meeting and reviewed key priorities for the committee. Meeting agenda, quorum, spokesperson for the council, alignment on ethics and the MOU with DECD plans were reviewed. 

•          Recommendation: the ED and the SEC Chair draft the MOU with the Commissioner of the DECD or his designee and present at the December full Council meeting. 

3. General Process for Council Meetings

4. General Process for Committee Meetings

Taken together the Council and Committee meeting guidelines were reviewed.

COMMITTEES:  

• All committees should establish a set monthly meeting date and time.  The monthly meeting will be for scheduling purposes.
• All committees should plan to meet at a minimum of once a month to prepare a report on its progress and/or to make recommendation to the full Council at its monthly meeting.
• All regular committee meetings are required
  • Minimum 24-hours advanced publicly notice, if in person
    • Meeting Agenda must accompany the notice
  • Minimum 48-hour advanced notice if virtual
    • Meeting Agenda must be posted 24 hours in advance
  • Preference is meeting notice and meeting agenda be posted one week in advance
  • Meetings must follow set agenda.
  • An item may be added to the agenda with a 2/3 vote of those present at the meeting.
• All committees should submit items for the Council agenda, one week prior to the full council meeting. 
• Committee chairs should work with SEC staff to coordinate all committee meetings
• Committee members will be given a 48-hour advance notice of a planned committee meeting
• Committee members will bring forth recommendations to bring to the full council
• Committee members shall vote on recommendations where required by law
• A quorum must be present for the committee to vote. Committee quorum is 1 more than ½ of the full committee
• Committee meetings are required to posted minutes after meeting.
• Committee meetings will be recorded and posted
• SEC staff will take minutes and have them posted.

NON-COMMITTEE MEMBERS OBSERVING COMMITTEE MEETINGS:

• Non committee council members can participate in committee meetings of which they are not assigned but, cannot vote on committee items
• Council members shall not be an official member on more than two committee

   

  FULL COUNCIL(Regular):

  • Full Council shall meet the first Tuesday of each month from 10 am-12 pm
  • Full Council meetings will be hybrid, as needed and publicly noticed minimum 48-hours in advance
  • Full Council meetings will be posted in accordance with  the CT FOIA
  • SEC Staff will publicly post all council meetings 48 hours in advance as required by the FOIA
  • By January 1^st of each new year, the Social Equity Council will notify the Secretary of State the dates of all regular standing meetings of the council. Any additional Council meetings, will be considered a "Special Meetings"

  SPECIAL MEETINGS:

  • Must be posted 24 hours in advance
  • Special Meeting Agenda’s must be posted with the public notice (24-hrs in advance)
  • Special Meeting Agenda’s can not be amended once posted. (no new items or discussions)
  • By January 1^st of each new year, the Social Equity Council will notify the Secretary of State the dates of all regular standing meetings of the council. Any additional Council meetings, will be considered a "Special Meetings"

  EMERGENCY MEETINGS:

• • Does not require advanced public notice
  • Minutes of the emergency meeting  must be posted 72 hours after the meeting.
  • Only discuss the emergency
  • Council can determine what is their emergency 

EXECUTIVE SESSION:

• Council may opt to go into executive session during a meeting.
• Executive Session should be listed on the agenda for the regular meeting
• Executive Session not listed on the agenda, may be voted onto the agenda by 2/3 of members present
• Executive Session can be called for discussion only of the following:
  • Personnel matters
  • Litigation
  • Property
  • Security
  • Documents of tricky legal matters
• Actions/Votes on the executive matter must take place during the public meeting
  

  ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Council - promote and encourage full participation in the cannabis industry
• ED - manage the day-to day operations of the SEC
• Staff for the Council - support the efforts of the SEC as assigned
• DECD - provide administrative support
  • Assisting in absence of SEC staff
• SEC Office will be located at the DECD for Administrative purposes

   

  GENERAL GOVERNANCE:

• The SEC will develop Governance Standards, in lieu of Bylaws
• Executive Director is chief spokesperson for the Social Equity Council

5. SEC Staff / DECD Roles and Responsibilities

Comm. Chair Naeem explained that this will be expanded during the MOU discussion at the November meeting.

• Council - promote and encourage full participation in the cannabis industry
• ED - manage the day-to day operations of the SEC
• Staff for the Council - support the efforts of the SEC as assigned
• DECD - provide administrative support
  • Assisting in absence of SEC staff
• SEC Office will be located at the DECD for Administrative purposes
• The SEC will develop Governance Standards, in lieu of Bylaws
• Executive Director is chief spokesperson for the Social Equity Council

6. Next Meeting Date is 10/27 at 1pm and going forward: 4th Wednesdays 1pm.  The holiday weeks coming up were noted by Michael Jefferson.  Ms. Naeem stated that the November and December dates will likely be shifted earlier in the month, and that will be a topic for the 10/27 meeting.

7. Other Business

No other business was discussed. Melissa McCaw asked for the governance document edited to reflect the discussion from this meeting be sent around to the full council, and for it to get one final legal review before the full Council approves it.

8. Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned at 1:58 pm.

Meeting minutes are a draft until approved at a future meeting.