Palm Beach County is re-establishing a panel it scrapped 23 years ago: its Commission on the Status of Women.

At Tuesday’s County Commission meeting, Commissioner Melissa McKinlay cited "recent media coverage" and said, "I think it’s more important than ever that we look at reinstating this much-needed advisory board."

The issue of sexual misconduct has dominated political — and entertainment — news coverage in recent weeks, including the resignation last month of state Sen. Jeff Clemens, D-Atlantis, who admitted to an extramarital affair with a lobbyist.

That resignation was followed by a Politico Florida report that six women have accused powerful state Sen. Jack Latvala, a Clearwater Republican who is running for governor, of groping them or making derogatory comments about their bodies. An earlier Politico report described private-eye photos of Latvala, who is married, kissing a female lobbyist on the lips in a restaurant parking lot. Politico reported that both Latvala and the lobbyist denied any romantic relationship.

Latvala, who told Politico he has never had a harassment complaint filed against him, has stepped down as chairman of the Senate’s budget committee during an independent investigation into the allegations ordered by Senate President Joe Negron, R-Stuart. Latvala, a moderate blasted by party conservatives since since the Politico story was published on Friday, also has suspended three campaign events and hired veteran Tallahassee lawyer Steve Andrews, who wrote Negron on Tuesday asking him to wrap up the investigation of Latvala by the start of session in January.

Negron has changed the way harassment complaints are handled in the Senate, claiming that the new process requiring reports to be made to supervisors and chamber leaders was intended to elevate the seriousness of allegations and give individuals more outlets for help. But he was criticized after it appeared the revised procedure blocked victims from lodging complaints with the human-resources department.

Meanwhile, some women in the Legislature want to change Florida ethics laws to make it a crime for elected officials to coerce someone into having sex in exchange for officials acts.

McKinlay, a Democrat who has received campaign support from both Latvala and Clemens, said she recently returned from a women in government leadership conference in Arizona, where cracking down on sexual harassment was the dominant topic of discussion.

"Florida is not the only state dealing with sexual harassment issues right now," she told her fellow commissioners during the meeting Tuesday. "Everyone from all corners of our nation are talking about this issue."

McKinlay later told The Palm Beach Post that her goal, like the discussion at the Arizona meeting, was broader than "workplace fairness issues."

"The Women in Government Leadership program I am in inspired me to go back to my community and work to elevate women’s issues… . There is a national push for more women to serve in office. And I believe part of that is a renewed concern on women, children and family issues," she said.

Palm Beach County’s Commission on the Status of Women was established in 1973 and was re-authorized by commissioners several times before it was allowed to sunset in 1995, McKinlay said. It was a 15-person commission, with each county commissioner nominating two members and a final member being selected by the entire County Commission.

That’s the way McKinlay said she envisions the commission being constituted this time around, too.

Its tasks, McKinlay said, could include:Examining the county’s sexual harassment policies to make sure they are in line with modern practices.Following the implementation of the county’s new parental leave policy and reviewing emergencies and school closings and how they impact county employees with school-age children.Reviewing gender-specific programming offered in the county’s jail, its youth empowerment centers and libraries. McKinlay said the commission could also look at the work of outside agencies that receive county funding to see whether and how they benefit women and families.

"I think it’s time that that commission came back on line," McKinlay said.

Commissioner Steven Abrams wasn’t enthusiastic about that prospect.

"We’re creating another board," he said. "We’re trying to reduce the number of boards."

Abrams, however, was circumspect in expressing concern about the re-establishment of the commission.

"I’m a little hesitant because, on the one hand, we want to try to reduce the number of boards," he said. "On the other hand, I don’t want to be accused of waging a war on women or something."

Abrams — one of only two Republicans, along with Hal Valeche, on the County Commission — said some of the work McKinlay has in mind for the commission on women is already being undertaken by county staff members. When he wondered aloud whether the county’s sexual harassment policies are in line with modern practices, County Administrator Verdenia Baker — the county’s first female county administrator — was quick to assure him that they were.

"I’m not sure it’s completely needed to go through the whole process of creating a board to do some work that the staff can already do for us," Abrams said.

County Mayor Paulette Burdick asked McKinlay if she’d be open to the idea of the having the commission operate for a year and be re-authorized only if needed.

Burdick said the county already has 100 committees that county staffers must support and ending them is a rarity.

"Once they get established, they are established for quite some time," she said.

McKinlay, however, said she wouldn’t want the commission disbanded after a year.

"I think there will always be a need to review women’s issues," she said.

Two other commissioners, Bernard Mack and Dave Kerner, embraced the re-establishment of the commission.

Kerner cited his time in the state Legislature as a reason for his support of the idea.

"I don’t want to be on a soap box," he said, "but there were a lot of reasons I left the Legislature. One of the reasons was just a culture of disrespect for a lot of people. We as leaders of an institution have an obligation to continue to push these issues to the forefront. That’s the only way that things change."

There was no formal vote on the commission, but Baker said she will begin working on its re-establishment, including drafting a letter describing its mandate and soliciting for would-be nominees.