Rotary Club of Eureka, California

Meeting of the Rotary Club of Eureka

May 23, 2016

Lunch Menu: salad bar, ribs, chicken casserole, rolls, mixed vegetables, dessert.

Called to order by President Jay Bahner at 12:30pm. The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Christian Hill.  The Invocation was led by Gary Todoroff.

President Jay noted that Past President Ziggy Ziegenfuss’s wife, Ruth passed away last week.  He asked for a moment of silence to honor her passing.

VISITING ROTARIANS: Shelly Nilsen Southwest Rotary.

GUESTS OF ROTARIANS: Kim Bauriedel introduced Dr. William Parks, Chief Medical Officer at St. Joseph Hospital. Neal Carnam introduced his guest. Nancy Dean introduced Carly and Annalisa from Lost Coast Rotaract.

STUDENT GUESTS: None.

BIRTHDAYS:  Larona Farnum.

ANNIVERSARIES: Jennifer and Robert Budwig.

ANNOUNCEMENTS: President Jay announced that the Past Presidents will be meeting tomorrow to discuss his request to make Walt Shimasaki a lifetime honorary member of the club.  There is a board meeting tomorrow.

Carly Robbins reminded us that the Backpacks for Kids Fundraiser is underway.  Old Town Rotary and Rotary Club of Eureka are currently tied for pledges.

RECOGNITIONS: Bruce Smith was fined $200 (50% to Foundation and 50% to Paul Harris) for recently traveling to Mexico for his twin sister in laws 50^th birthday bash. 

Ray Wickle was recognized for being at the meeting.  He’s been at his winter home in San Diego for the past few months, although he said he was faithfully attending a Rotary Club meeting in the San Diego area.  

Dan Heinen attended a ceremony at KEET TV that thanked the Rotary Club for their sponsorship of the Homework Hotline program.

SPENGLER-HOWARD RAFFLE: Rotary Coin: Dan Heinen. $10: Dan Heinen (again). Paul Helliker drew a card for a pot of  $100 and won the consolation prize of a Rotary paperweight.

GUEST SPEAKER: Connie Beck is the Director of Health and Human Services for Humboldt County (DHHS). She started in January of 2016 but has an over 20-year history with this organization primarily in administration and finance.  They have over 1,200 employees, and 39 to 40 site locations in Humboldt County. They manage a 165 million dollar budget and run numerous mandated programs including mental health, water quality, veteran programs, public guardian programs, child welfare services and many more.  They are currently running a recruitment program for foster parents as they are desperate to find foster parents. They are currently evaluating how to reorganize the organization of DHHS and are waiting for the new Chief Administrative Officer to be hired to finish that process. She is not filling some key positions that have come open until the restructuring decisions have been made. There are some programs like homelessness that the community tends to think DHHS is responsible for but in reality they don’t receive any funding for unless the person qualifies for one of the mandated programs, such as mental health services.  Questions and Answers followed.  

MEETING ADJOURNED: 1:30pm.

Respectfully submitted, Alicia Cox