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County Of Sonoma › Administrative Support & Fiscal Services › Clerk-Recorder-Assessor › Historical Records Commission › Calendar › Historical Records Commission Minutes February 6 2025
Historical Records Commission

Historical Records Commission Minutes February 6, 2025

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

Member Present Virtually due to Just Cause:
Seana Gause

Members Excused:
None

Associate Members present:
Amanda King, Secretary
Deva Marie Proto, County Clerk-Recorder-Assessor & Registrar of Voters
Jaime Anderson, Collections Services Division Manager, Sonoma County Library
Eve Goldberg, County of Sonoma Library Commissioner and Liaison to the Historical Records Commission

Guests present:
Zayda Delgado, Supervising Librarian, History & Genealogy Library

  1. Call to order 4:00 pm
  2. Seana Gause participate Virtually due to Just Cause
    1. Motion to approve Seana Gause to particpate as a voting member by Margaret Purser
    2. Second by Robert Chase
    3. Roll Call Vote:
      1. Mueller - Aye
      2. Chase - Aye
      3. Lovejoy - Aye
      4. Purser - Aye
    4. Motion passes
  3. Introduction of Guests
  4. Approval of Minutes
    1. December 12, 2024 minutes
      1. Motion by Seana Gause
      2. Second by Margaret Purser
      3. Abstain by Michael Mueler
      4. Approved
    2. January 9, 2025 minutes
      1. Minutes move to the March meeting pending review of the minutes.
  5. Election of Officers
    1. Chairperson
      1. Motion by Margaret Purser for Robert Chase as Chair
      2. Second by Seana Gause
      3. Approved
      4. Abstain by Robert Chase
    2. Vice-Chairperson
      1. Motion by Robert Chase for Seana Gause as Vice-Chair
      2. Second by Margaret Purser
      3. Approved
  6. 2025 Meeting Schedule
    1. Meeting schedule is currently set for the 2nd Thursday of every month. Secretary requests change for meeting dates: July 10 and September 11 due to being unavailable.
    2. Secretary to check back in March for potential coverage for dates listed above.
  7. Budget Discussion
    1. Balance is $3,615.09
  8. Business
      1. HRC Commissioners Report
        1. Michael's report:
          • Santa Cruz County Recorder is no longer allowing access to deeds and maps online.
        2. Robert's report:
          • No report
        3. Seana's report:
          • No progress on putting social media proposal together
        4. Steven's report:
          • California Historical Society is closing and they will be moving their collection to Stanford.
        5. Margaret's report:
          • No report
      2. Library Commission Liaison Report
        1. Update from Eve Goldberg:
          • The Commission continues on-going negotiations with the union (SEIU) regarding the new staff contract. The LC is conducting their semi-annual review of Director Thibault.
          • The Commission has recently formed two temporary task force teams:
            • A task force to interface with library management regarding Capital Projects (timelines, budgeting, etc.)
            • A task force to review the Joint Powers Agreement, which is the governing document delineating how the Library work together with City and County partners. The LC is required to review the JPA every 10 years - which is now.
          • Due to a drop in Sales Tax revenues, the Commission has approved a budget adjustment. The CFO is closely monitoring both Sales Tax and Property Tax fluctuations.
          • Overall, the Library is in an excellent financial position. But with the tumult, drastically changing priorities, and alarming activities emanating from the current White House, it's very important to keep a close eye on how this may affect the library.
          • Steven comments to bring up the Archives Memorandum of Understanding and Eve said she will remember to bring that up.
      3. Library Report
        1. Library Director Report
          • Library Update by Jaime Anderson:
            • This month, the library is celebrating Black History Month, Library Lovers Month, and encouraging the community to beat inflation and save money by using their library card.
            • Library staff continue to learn and train on ArchivesSpace, a content management system for archives. Staff are developing internal knowledge and workflows, practicing and creating accession records for their archival collections. ArchivesSpace will eventually be opened up to the public as a finding aide to search across all of SCL’s archival collections.
            • The renovations of the Petaluma, Healdsburg, and Windsor Regional Libraries are underway and on-track. Each community has a “mini library” open and available for service. Windsor is scheduled to reopen the newly renovated branch on March 3. In addition, the Cloverdale Library will be closing in March for a short 3-week project to upgrade restrooms and create a more welcoming patio space.
            • Equipment has been ordered for the HVAC and ADA project at the H&G Library and is expected to be delivered in July. Closure for this project is planned tentatively for summer 2025.
            • The Library’s annual budget and planning workshop is scheduled for April 16 from 1-5pm at Library Headquarters in Rohnert Park.
          • Archives Operating Agreement Update
            • There is no update on the Archives Operating Agreement with the County.
        2. History and Genealogy Library Report
      4. Archives Activity Report
        1. Update by Zayda Delgado:
          • Twenty-one (21) resources requested in the month of January from 11 unique requestors and two (2)  requests from county agencies.
      5. Collections & Archives Recognition Awards
        1. Event to be held on Sunday, March 16, 2025 at Iron and Vine Restaurant, Bennett Valley Golf Course
        2. Review applications received
          • Motion to accept all three nominations by Margaret Purser
          • Second by Steven Lovejoy
          • Approved
        3. Ability to Self-Nominate
          • Motion to accept self-nominations for consideration for recipients of the HRC award by Margaret Purser
          • Second by Seana Gause
          • Approved
        4. Discussion on Awards and Category assignments
          • Charlie Siebenthal awarded in Individual Excellence
          • Michael Acker awarded in Preservation
          • Eowyn Medeiros awarded in Special Projects
        5. Secretary to prepare Press Release
        6. Robert Chase to reach out to Ray Johnson from the Sonoma County Historical Society
      6. Outreach
        1. “Researching the History of a Sonoma County Property” pamphlet update:
          • Commission to review pamphlet in March 2025 for updates to be published in June 2025.
      7. Strategic Planning
        1. Seana Gause to prepare a social media proposal
      8. County Recorder update on the status of the Restrictive Covenant Modification Program
        1. Documents January 1964 through April 2010 have been sent through the system for OCR
          • Staff is currently reviewing documents from late-May 2001 that include keyword clues
          • 5,040,726 documents have been reviewed
          • 16,326,621 pages have been reviewed (of an approximate 24+ million)
          • 51 Restrictive Covenant Modifications have been recorded for 1964-early 2001
      9. Legislative Updates pertaining to public records
        1. Senators and Assemblymembers are each limited to introducing 35 bills for the two-year cycle.  This is a change from past practice, which allowed for 40 and 50 bills for Senators and Assemblymembers, respectively.   New limits may mean lawmakers will be more selective about which bills to introduce, especially in the first year of the two-year cycle.
        2. Assembly Bill 64 – Vital records: diacritical marks
        3. Continuing to monitor legislation.
        4. Request from Michael Mueller about Recording Requirements for Maps
    1. New Business
      1. None
    2. Public Comment
      1. Library Commission meeting, March 5, 2025, 6PM, 6135 State Farm Drive, Rohnert Park
        1. March, April regular meeting and April budget Workshop on April 16 will all be held at the above address.
      2. Sonoma County Heritage Network Meeting, April 2025, 10AM-12PM, TBD
      3. Museum of Sonoma County Exhibitions:
        • Sonoma County Stories, September 9, 2023-ongoing
        • Light, Clay, and Copper: Mid-Century Arts and Crafts in Sonoma County, September 9, 2023-ongoing
        • MSC Collections Gallery: New Acquisitions, June 15, 2024-ongoing
        • Tattooed and Tenacious: Inked Women in California's History, November 16, 2024-February 23, 2025
        • Orin Carpenter's Reflected Truths, Refracted Realities: The African American Journey Through Art, February 15, 2025-March 15, 2025
        • UNRULY: North Bay Artists from the San Francisco Art Institute, February 15-June 8, 2025
    3. Meeting adjourned at 5:03PM


    Next Meeting - March 13, 2025 - 4:00PM

    • 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.