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<br /> c <br /> Therese Engelmann, 296 West 8th, explained in regard to the Women's <br /> Equality Day, the event has been treated in the past as one of singing, . <br /> dancing, gymnastics, and holiday joyful atmosphere. It had been tra- <br /> dition to have no more than one speaker and the topic chosen for this <br /> year's event was"something for women"--with the choice to celebrate the <br /> passage of the Displaced Homemaker Bill. Nancie Fadeley had been chosen <br /> as the one speaker because she had sponsored that particular bill. It was <br /> felt that if this group had been allowed to speak and present its views, <br /> then others would have the right to present their opposing views and the <br /> celebration might have been spoiled. The group was given the same right <br /> as any other group to display its literature. In regard to the charge <br /> there were no homemakers on the Commission, Ms. Englemann reported that <br /> all but one of the women were homemakers. It was true that many have other <br /> . jobs, but all of them have homes to keep and children to raise. During <br /> the Women's Equality Day speech, she said no word was spoken about abor- <br /> tion, contrary to the statement made by the women testififying this evening. <br /> Further, she said the Women's Commission does do many things for the <br /> homemaker, citing it supported the Displaced Homemaker Bill, Womenspace, <br /> women on welfare, single parents, jOb sharing, and divorce legislation to <br /> favor women who want to stay in the home. The criterion in the statute <br /> for choosing membership requires interest and expertise in the areas of <br /> discrimination and she felt these were good criterion. She did not favor <br /> changing the criterion to get particular points of views on particular <br /> issues. <br /> Andy Clement, Hu~an Rights Specialist, replied to the charges regarding <br /> the August 2 meeting of the Women's Commission, saying the Commissions <br /> were never too busy, they were always open to anyone, people were never -- <br /> denied the right to input, and in fact the Commissions were seeking <br /> input from community members. In response to the charge that a staff <br /> member, Betsy Merck, had appear~d on a local radio station supporting ERA <br /> and abortion, he said she many times throughout the presentation differen- <br /> tiated her role with the City and her own personal views, noting she was <br /> speaking only for herself. Mr. Clement continued that each year there are <br /> three memberships for each commission open and the commissions are con- <br /> stantly looking for new applicants. He suggested that women in this group <br /> pick up an application in the City Manager's Office and make application <br /> for the Women's Commission if they so wish. He also said he felt members <br /> of the Council had attempted to be very fair in selecting members with <br /> divergent views. <br /> Mr. Haws thanked the women for their presentation, noting the City does <br /> have a process for Commission membership selection. He felt it would <br /> be a mistake to overtly select persons of one particular point of view. <br /> He encouraged those persons to make application for the Commissions. <br /> Mr. Delay did not question the motivation for the presentation made, but <br /> did express concern that he had seen no particular important City business <br /> i nvo lved. He felt Council had become a publicity forum and hoped it would <br /> not encourage any group who felt it needed representation on a Commission <br /> to come to Council just by making a request, thereby gaining publicity. <br /> - <br /> 9/26177 --18 <br /> 11.f1 <br />