GLOBE Bulletin Board Vandalism

Maria brought up the incidents of GLOBE materials being removed again from the public bulletin board on the B level of the Main Interior Building.  Bob said he would talk with NBC facilities management to see if we could get access to a covered bulletin board and bring back information to the next meeting.

Diversity Conference

The Diversity Conference was held in Ellicott City, Maryland, August 7-10, 2000.   Feedback is that the meeting went well and that it was good public relations for GLOBE.  Steve Morris represented Interior GLOBE at the Conference by speaking on a panel of DOI employee Groups.

Newsletter

Our second newsletter is near final and should be out shortly.

AIDS Walk

The reporting number for Interior for registration and pledge forms is GOV-1319.   September 30 is the deadline for submissions to ensure that you receive promotional items, such as T-shirts at the march.  There was a discussion about setting up tables to get people to register for the walk, putting posters up, etc.  Maria was going to talk with the Solicitor’s General Law staff to find out what limitations are in place that might prohibit such activities.  If you have any questions, you can call Daphne Berwald at 202-208-7163.  Registration and pledge forms were handed out.

Meeting 1  This meeting was with various personnel to discuss findings in our report on DOI policies and practices, and items Assistant Secretary John Berry wished to accomplish before he leaves.  These items included: instituting a program for training of all supervisors on sexual orientation issues, getting more information onto DOI web sites about trainings and specific training materials and reference materials.

Meeting 2  This meeting was with the Office of Personnel Management.  OPM is putting together a best practices manual of actions that identify benefits that are available to us now.  For example, insurance annuities can currently be assigned to a domestic partner.  Also, Congress just passed a long term care benefit program which allows a federal employee to pay 100% of care costs, at a reduced group rate, for anyone including a domestic partner.

Meeting 3  John invited Melodee and Maria to a meeting at Julian Potter’s White House office with gay political appointees on best practices - actions all agencies should take before the administration changes.  These include: issuing OPM's best practices guidance; instituting domestic partner benefits where possible (like FWS relocation benefits); instituting administrative grievance procedures; including non-discrimination language in contracts; and including non-discrimination factors in supervisor performance elements.

Amendment to the Diversity Plan

Maria sent a draft to Melodee that includes sexual orientation.  It is being reviewed by General Law in the Solicitor’s office and by Melodee.  Copies of the amendments to the Plan were passed out for discussion. Changes are significant and include including sexual orientation in Affirmative Employment Programs; recruitment of GLBT employees for employment programs; monitoring GLBT employee development and promotion practices and developing action plans to eliminate barriers to fair and equitable GLBT employee advancement; eliminating barriers to retention of GLBT employees; addressing GLBT quality of worklife issues; assessing managerial performance in hiring retention and promotion of GLBT employees; mandatory training for managers, supervisors, and all employees; ensuring that training materials are updated to include sexual orientation; enforcing the Zero Tolerance Policy as it relates to hostile work environments for GLBT employees; and monitoring processing of complaints of GLBT employees.

Applicant Background Surveys

OPM does not need to approve this form, so InteriorI is proceeding with sending changes to the Office of Management and Budget.  The intent is to allow applicants to identify their sexual orientation (homosexual, heterosexual, other), and the data be used to ensure diverse applicant pools.  Copies of the current form were passed out to aid discussion.

Law Enforcement Fitness Standards

The law enforcement standards were changed to reflect GLOBE concerns.  You can see them at: http://medical.smis.doi.gov/PDF/Handbook.pdf at pp. 189, 190, and 210.

Status of By-laws

Maria is trying to determine which official should approve them. There was discussion that Interior approval may not be required because GLOBE has already enacted them.   Maria will follow up.

Holiday Party

The party this year will be at the home of Jim and Gregg (again - thank you Jim and Gregg). The date is December 15^th.  Be sure to mark your calendars.

Happy Hours

The fourth Friday of each month, GLOBE will meet at Gabriel’s, at the Radisson Barcelo Hotel at 2121 P Street NW.  (Phone: 202-293-3100)  GLOBE members who wish to participate are encouraged to meet there at 6 PM on these fourth Fridays.  In the past there have been a Tapas Buffett for $9.25 and special drink prices during that time.

Diversity Council

Ike reported that the Council met in August in Las Vegas and was hosted by the Southern Nevada Hispanic Employment Council.  The focus was on under-represented minorities.

• A comprehensive report is being developed for Secretary Babbitt which includes several recommendations.  It should be completed by the end of the month.  The idea is to set the direction for action for the transition to a new administration.  The report will be a foundation for the next administration to address diversity issues.
  
• FY 2001 Goals include: Looking at best practices in the private sector; institutionalizing these best practices Departmentwide, rather than by bureau; and building in sexual orientation issues for the best practices.
  
• The Diversity Council would like to play the role of advisory board for the new administration and use the transition process to get the new administration to use the group.  They plan to be very active in soliciting support for their inclusion for the next administration.
  
• The Council was not involved in the development of the last Diversity Plan.   Melodee’s office was in charge of the development of the plan last time.