May 2019 Minutes

Action Items:

-Sign up for King Soopers fundraising. The website for signing up is
https://kingsoopers.com/communityrewards
-Find out more information on Larimer County Jail Expansion here (FB link)
-Contact County Commissioners regarding Larimer County Jail Expansion
-Contact NOCO NOW President for more info and to volunteer to liaison with local groups

-Legislative Committee Happy Hour May 29th, 5:30, Cafe Vino
–June 11th, next general meeting will feature Joann Ginal
-Book Club hiatus until next meeting Sept, date, book, and place TBD. Contact NOCO NOW email with suggestions.

The new NOCO NOW President opened the meeting with 22 people present.
New officers were introduced: Vice President; Treasurer; Secretary.

The Treasurer reported finances of the club and reminded people to sign up for the King Soopers non-profit fundraising program (see action items above for more info).

Legislative Committee updates:
-The legislative committee will no longer have a monthly meeting, but will have a social meeting to focus on issues and trainings (see events above).
-The next happy hour is at Café Vino on 5- 28-19 at 5:30.
-The Police Rape Loophole Act Bill will be followed in the next legislative session.

Other Updates:
-The happy hour with Planned Parenthood of Denver was productive and
NOCO NOW will collaborate with PP for future events. If anyone wants to
apply to be an escort at the local PP center, ask via the NOCO NOW email.
-Additionally, if you are interested in being a liaison with other local service groups that fit within the 6 pillars, please contact the President either via email or at am upcoming general meeting (see action item above).
-NOCO NOW will have an intern this summer. Her assignment will be to identify women owned and operated businesses in Larimer County and report back to us.

Guest Speaker with a presentation advocating against Larimer County Jail Expansion. Briefly, there has been a big increase in the number of people held pre-trial, and due to various factors, it's generally because they are unable to pay bail. The system is such that it's possible for a poorer resident to be held awaiting trial for a minor, non-violent crime, while a suspect in a more egregious crime is released to the community if they are wealthier. This can be a big issue for families struggling on lower rungs of the economic scale. Larimer County Jail is not a for-profit prison, but this means that our property taxes pay for housing people in the jail for $118/day. Currently the pre-trial population is greater than the convicted population on any given day. More information from the group that presented and contact information for County Commissioners is above in the action items.