Historical Records Commission Minutes April 10, 2025

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

Members Excused:
None

Associate Members present:
Amanda King, Secretary
Deva Marie Proto, Sonoma 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
Zaira Enriquez, Executive Assistant, Clerk-Recorder-Assessor

Call to order 4:05 pm
Introduction of Guests
Approval of Minutes
1. March 13, 2025 minutes
  1. Motion to approve the minutes by Seana Gause
  2. Second by Margaret Purser
  3. Approved
  4. Abstain by Michael Mueller
Budget Discussion
1. Balance is $3,598.64
Business
1. HRC Commissioners Report
  1. Robert's report
    - No report
  2. Seana's report
    - No report
  3. Steven's report
    1. No report
  4. Michael's report
    - No report
  5. Margaret's report
    - No report
2. Library Commission Liaison Report
  1. Update from Eve Goldberg:
    - Library Commission voted 7-2 to go into savings and give $4 million for constuction of the new Roseland Library branch.
    - Question from Margaret Purser: Thank you for forwarding the JPA survey related to the Archives. Is there still time for the HRC to submit?
3. Library Report
  1. Library Director Report
    - Library Update by Jaime Anderson:
      - This month the library is celebrating National Library Week and preparing for its annual Budget Workshop scheduled for April 16.
      - An ad-hoc committee of the Library Commission has formed to review the library’s Joint Powers Agreement and is inviting stakeholders to provide input.
      - The library is deeply concerned about the cuts happening to the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). Although the funding cuts will impact Sonoma County nominally, they will affect libraries and museums nationwide significantly. We urge everyone to write Congress to offer support for IMLS.
      - The renovations of the Petaluma and Healdsburg libraries are continuing and on-track. Both communities have a “mini library” open and available for service.
      - The size of the new Roseland Library has been settled at 12,475 square feet with an additional 3,000 square feet of additional outdoor space that can be used for programming. Groundbreaking will be late 2025 and opening in early 2027.
      - 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.
    - Archives Operating Agreement Update
      - There is no update from the County on the Archives Operating Agreement. Director Thibault met with District 1 Supervisor Rebecca Hermosillo and asked her to help get some action taken.
  2. History and Genealogy Library Report
    - Update by Zayda Delgado:
      - Working with the Russian River Historical Society, which is not affected by the federal budget cuts.
      - Upcoming Events:
        
        Santa Rosa Zine Fest at the Northwest Library on Saturday, May 3 from 1-5PM. Read more here: https://sonomalibrary.org/stayinformed/librarynews/zinefest2025
4. Archives Activity Report
  1. Update by Zayda Delgado:
    - Thirty-three (33) resources requested in the month of March from 12 unique requestors and six (6) requests from one county department.
5. Collections & Archives Recognition Awards
  1. Robert, Margaret, and Amanda attended the event. Event went well and recipients were thankful.
  2. Secretary to update website with winners.
  3. Review of Sonoma County Historical Society (SCHS) proposal:
    - Eliminate self-nomination
    - Discuss lack of overlap in categories-HRC to focus on archives and records including studies
    - Request to change the date of the application deadline to mid-November
    - Robert to reach out to Ray Johnson to confirm attendance at May meeting.
6. Outreach
  1. Review Social Media Plan proposal
    1. Secretary to place on the May 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 June 2013 have been sent through the system for OCR
    - Staff is currently reviewing documents from late-April 2002 that include keyword clues
    - 5,447,941 documents have been reviewed
    - 18,126,939 pages have been reviewed (of an approximate 24+ million)
    - 51 Restrictive Covenant Modifications have been recorded for 1964-2001
9. Legislative Updates pertaining to public records
New Business
1. None
Public Comment
1. Library Commission meeting, May 7, 2025, 6PM, Rohnert Park Branch Library
2. Sonoma County Heritage Network Meeting, April 12, 2025, 10AM-12PM, Northwestern Pacific Railroad Historical Society Restoration Yard at 110 Baylis St, Petaluma
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
  - 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
  - It's in the Mail! Sonoma County's Postal History, April 12-September 7, 2025
Meeting adjourned at 5:03PM

Next Meeting - May 8, 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.