Historical Records Commission Minutes August 14, 2025

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Members present:
Robert Chase (Chair)
Steven Lovejoy
Michael Mueller
Margaret Purser

Members Excused:
Seana Gause (Vice-Chair)

Associate Members present:
Amanda King, Secretary
Deva Marie Proto, Sonoma County Clerk-Recorder-Assessor
Jaime Anderson, Collections Services Division Manager, Sonoma County Library

Guests present:
Zayda Delgado, Supervising Librarian, History & Genealogy Library
Zaira Enriquez, Executive Assistant, Clerk-Recorder-Assessor

Call to order 4:02 pm
Introduction of Guests
Approval of Minutes
1. July 10 2025 minutes
  1. Motion to approve the minutes by Margaret Purser
  2. Second by Steven Lovejoy
  3. Approved
Budget Discussion
1. Balance is $3,598.64
Business
1. HRC Commissioners Report
  1. Robert's report
    - Robert reached out to Eric Stanley from the Museum of Sonoma County to ask about hosting an event for the two master's students to present. Eric was going to reach out to their events coordinator and Robert has not yet heard back.
  2. Steven's report
    - No report
  3. Michael's report
    - No report
  4. Margaret's report
    - Margaret attended the Heritage Network meeting at the Healdsburg Museum last month.
    - The Sonoma State University (SSU) History Master's student who did his thesis about fire emergency preparedness for archives and museums is now working, possibly volunteering, for the Historical Society of Sonoma County. They have also asked him to do a presentation about available resources to small historical and cultural organizations and non-profits.
    - Margaret thinks that there is a big chance that the student will do a presentation and will have a lot of sponsors and audience.
    - Margaret and Robert think the other presentation about the mall's history is more appropriate for the Museum of Sonoma County, as it involves the history of the museum itself.
2. Library Commission Liaison Report
  1. Update from Eve Goldberg via email:
    - Eve Goldberg was not in attendance at the meeting and followed up before the meeting with the following details by email:
      - The Library Commission approved a contract between the City of Rohnert Park and the Library to make infrastructure improvements on the Rohnert Park/Cotati library branch. Improvements include updated interior lighting system and fixtures; fire detection and alarm system; central cooling system and rooftop HVAC unit. Both the City and the Library will contribute funds for these projects. The City will oversee construction. This is part of the Building Forward Together Grant, which helps pay for capital projects at California libraries.
      - The Commission's Joint Partners Agreement Task Force continues to meet and review the JPA.
      - The Facilities/Capital Improvements Task Force continues to meet and work with the Library Director regarding future projects.
      - The Commission approved minor fee increases for things like library patrons' printing and photocopying.
3. Library Report
  1. Library Director Report
    - Library Update by Jaime Anderson:
      - This month the library is commemorating the Back-to-School season and preparing to reopen the Petaluma Regional Library on August 25.
      - The library has issued several RFPs this summer. Recommendations for all of these will come forward tot he Library Commission in the coming months:
        
        1) strategic plan consultant
        
        2) new integrated library system
        
        3) new financial auditor
      - Contract negotiations concluded and the library's successor MOU was ratified by union membership. Final approval headed to the LIbrary Commission next week.
      - Groundbreaking for the new Roseland Library is set for November 2025. Doors will open in March 2027.
      - H&G Library's HVAC work is tentatively scheduled for September 16-30. The library will be closed during this time. The ADA portion of the project will be scheduled separately later and may result in additional closure time.
    - Archives Operating Agreement Update
      - There is no update from the County on the Archives Operating Agreement.
  2. History and Genealogy Library Report
    - Update by Zayda Delgado:
      - Tentative dates for closure are September 16th through September 30th for the HVAC work and the reading room furniture installation. They are planning to offer limited service but they are still trying to figure out all the details, including where staff will work from. They are unsure of what Collections will have available and hope to have more information soon.
      - They continue to work on the collaborative grant with the Russian River Historical Society. There is an event on Saturday, September 20, at the Guerneville Library from 4:00 pm to 5:30 pm about the Russian River response to AIDS.
4. Archives Activity Report
  1. Update by Zayda Delgado:
    - Fifteen resources were requested, zero from county, and three unique users requested for the month of July.
5. Collections and Archives Recognition Awards
  1. Margaret revised the timeline and made the following revisions. The deadline for submissions was changed from January to November 30th. The awardees would be selected before the end of the year (before electing new officers). The current chair will initiate the process, including sending an initial email to all awardees, and then the incoming chair will send an introductory email to the awardees.
  2. The forms will remain the same, with only the date updated. Once they are updated, tehy will be shared with the Heritage Network. The Secretary will post the forms on the website tomorrow, August 15.
  3. The commission would like two press releases: one announcing that nominations are open and another announcing the event date. The Secretary will need the date of the event to release the press release.
6. Outreach
  1. Social Media Plan
    - Margaret and Seana will be meeting once Seana returns from her trip.
  2. Secretary to add Finding History Day, November 1, 2025 to agenda
7. Strategic Planning
  1. No update
8. County Recorder update on the status of the Restrictive Covenant Modification Program
  1. Documents January 1964 through March 2024 have been sent through the system for OCR
    - Staff is currently reviewing documents from early-November 2003 that include keyword clues.
    - 6,527,440 documents have been reviewed
    - 23,550,527 pages have been reviewed
    - 51 Restrictive Covenant Modifications have been recorded for 1964-2001.
9. Legislative Updates pertaining to public records
10. 3850 and 3880 Brickway Blvd Building Purchase update
  1. Deed recorded yesterday, 8/13/2025, so the County of Sonoma is now the owner.
  2. Once the construction is finished in January, Registrar of Voters (ROV) is scheduled to go into the building first (by Februrary).
  3. PermitSonoma is scheduled to go after ROV into the same building.
  4. They will begin working on the Clerk-Recorder-Assessor (CRA) and Auditor-Controller-Treasurer-Tax Collector (ACTTC) after. Moves will probably not occur until a year from now.
New Business
1. None
Public Comment
1. Library Commission meeting, September 3, 2025, 6 pm, Rohnert Park Branch Library
2. Sonoma County Heritage Network Meeting, October 11, 2025, 10 am-12 pm, TBD
3. Museum of Sonoma County Exhibitions:
  1. Sonoma County Stories, September 9, 2023-ongoing
  2. Light, Clay, and Copper: Mid-Century Arts and Crafts in Sonoma County, September 9, 2023-ongoing
  3. MSC Collections Gallery: New Acquisitions, June 15, 2024-ongoing
  4. It's in the Mail! Sonoma County's Postal History, April 12-September 7, 2025
  5. Bruce Johnson: Sculptor, June 28-November 20, 2025
Meeting adjourned at 4:30 pm

Next Meeting - September 11, 2025 - 4:00 pm

In Person: County Clerk-Recorder-Assessor, Sonoma Room, 585 Fiscal Dr Rm 103, Santa Rosa, CA 95403
Virtual: Guests may also join virtually. Please see the meeting month’s agenda for login information.