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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHUMAN RELATIONS COMMISSION - MINUTES - 06/13/2024 Human Relations Commission REGULAR MEETING Thursday, June 13, 2024 – 5:30 PM City Hall; CIC Conference Room, 300 Laporte Ave and Zoom 1. CALL TO ORDER: 5:32 PM 2. ROLL CALL a. Commission Members Present – Beth Jaeger, Barb Kistler, Masood Ahmad, Phil Walker, Teresa Cribelli, Rachel Bryan, Coronda Ziegler (late arrival), Miho Yoshioka (late arrival) b. Commission Members Absent – None c. Staff Members Present – Liz Messenger, Lead Equity & Inclusion Specialist, Melanie Clark, Staff Liaison d. Guest – None 3. AGENDA REVIEW Chair Jaeger shared Kevin Goff’s resignation letter. The Commission wishes Kevin the best in his future endeavors and thank him for his time on the Commission. Jaeger explained unless there are issues with meeting quorum, Goff’s position will not be filled until next year. 4. APPROVAL OF MINUTES – MAY 9, 2024 Commission member Walker stated Race Amity Day occurred on June 8th and not the 9th and asked that this correction be made. Vice Chair Kistler motioned to approve the minutes as amended. Commission member Cribelli second. Motion passed 5-0 Chair Jaeger stated that Miho found a typo in April minutes. The service dates for officers were noted incorrectly. It should have been April 2024 to April 2025. She asked that this amendment be made to the April minutes. Commission member Walker motioned to approve the April minutes as amended. Vice Chair Kistler second the motion. Motion passed 6-0. 5. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION No members of the public were present. 6. BUDGET REVIEW Chair Jaeger shared the budget remains the same as last month with about $5100 remaining of the initial $6100 budget. She noted that the HRC spent $1000 in February for the DEIJ Networking Event. She indicated that $1000 will be allocated in October for educational programs, $1500-2000 for the September DEIJ Networking Event, and $1500 in December for the HRC Awards. The HRC is projected to spend an additional $4500 by the end of the year. 7. NEW BUSINESS a. FOLLOW-UP: DEIJ NETWORKING EVENT – REVIEW PARTICIPANT SURVEY Vice Chair Kistler shared that Sunday, September 22nd has been scheduled for the next networking group with a tentative hold on Northside Aztlan Center. Commission members reviewed the survey that will be sent out to participants of the last event. The survey will be sent out on June 20th when Melanie returns to the office. Responses will be due by July 3rd. Commission member Cribelli motioned to approve the survey. Commission member Bryan second the motion. Motion passed 6-0 b. DISCUSSION RE: FORT COLLINS MUSEUM OF DISCOVERY SPECIAL EXHIBITIONS: “SKIN: LIVING ARMOR, EVOLVING IDENTITY” AND “BIAS” AND COMMUNITY CONNECTION Chair Jaeger shared two new exhibits the Museum will be hosting are Skin: Living Armor, Evolving Identity and Bias and Community Connect. Jaeger explained the Skin exhibit explores how skin shapes the physical and social interaction living things have with one another and their environments. The Bias exhibit aims to raise awareness about the social science and psychology of implicit bias and how bias impacts the world around us. Jaeger stated the Museum’s goal is to continue to bring together these community leaders and groups to talk about how to get the word out about the events, how we can work together to create additional learning opportunities, and to encourage discussions about bias throughout the organization. Commission members discussed the level of involvement HRC should have. The next meeting will take place on June 24. Vice Chair Kistler and Commission member Cribelli will attend. The Commission will discuss this again at their July meeting. 8. OLD BUSINESS a. COMMITTEE REPORTS: • EDUCATION OUTREACH – UPDATE RE: “CROSS CULTURAL COMMUNICATION” AND “HUMAN LIBRARY” PROGRAMS Commission member Yoshioka shared they currently have 27 of the 32 books for Human Library. She stated that the registration page on the Museum’s website is live, and they are starting to disseminate communications and publicity for the event. Yoshioka stated that a press release, media coverage, and social media posts will start in mid-June. Chair Jaeger stated personal invites were the most powerful from last year. She asks everyone to share the information. She will share a copy of the flyer with draft language to send. Jaeger shared with Human Library Committee members the recommendation from Human Relations Commission regarding the frequency of the event. The Committee agreed and will plan for the next event to take place in February 2026. Vice Chair Kistler stated that Jaeger put together a set of talking points should anyone get asked any questions. This will be shared with Commission members. Vice Chair Kistler will reach out to Commission member Yoshioka regarding the Cross Cultural Communications program. • MEDIA/COMMUNITY RECOGNITION COMMITTEE – FOLLOW-UP: PLANNING FOR 2024 HUMAN RELATIONS AWARDS – NOMINATION FORM APPROVAL Commission member Bryan shared some of the changes that were made to the nomination form based on feedback from Commission members. Commission members discussed anonymous nominations where they will not receive the name of the nominee when reviewing nominations. Chair Jaeger asked for updates to also be made to the webpage. Commission member Bryan and Melanie will work together on this and getting the form on the website. Commission member Walker motioned to approve the form. Vice Chair Kistler second the motion. Motion passed 7-0 Chair Jaeger stated they have invited the Disability Advisory Board to participate in the award ceremony where they could present their own award. She recalled that DAB would run their program and decide who the recipient of the award would be. They would need to collect their own nominations and purchase their own award. Commission members agreed this was the intent. Melanie stated the DAB would like to have a member of HRC attend their meeting to discuss the award ceremony. Chair Jaeger and Vice Chair Kistler will attend. Chair Jaeger mentioned at the November meeting the Commission will be discussing the selection of the awardees. • EXECUTIVE – FOLLOW-UP: RE AREAS OF FOCUS FOR 3RD/4TH QUARTER 2024 Chair Jaeger shared they have been monitoring laws regarding guns in sensitive places. She shared State Representative, Andy Boesenecker’s end of session summary which stated five bills were passed and signed, including new law protecting Coloradans by prohibiting firearms in sensitive places. The new law protects communities from gun violence and creates safer public places especially where children and families are present. The law prohibits carrying firearms openly or concealed in government buildings, court houses, schools, and polling locations. Commission members discussed particular areas they would like to focus on or who they would like to invite to speak at their meetings. Mayor Pro Tem Francis is invited to speak and share an update about Council on an annual basis. Chair Jaeger will extend an invite. Commission members agreed to invite BIPOC Alliance and Mayor Pro Tem first and then ISAAC will be invited. All will be invited to attend within next three months. 9. ANNOUNCEMENTS Commission member Cribelli shared an announcement from the Governor’s office and the disabilities laws they passed. They also established a Colorado Disability Opportunity office. She stated there is also a new digital accessibility law that was supposed to go into effect June 30th but was postponed a year requiring all government institutions to be up to speed. Vice Chair Kistler stated that Juneteenth is taking place June 15 and 16 at the mall and Pride will also be taking place in Loveland. The NoCo Pride event will be taking place on June 29th. 10. NEXT STEPS a. MEETING ACTION ITEMS Melanie will make the corrections to our April and May minutes. Vice Chair Kistler will send the DEIJ Networking Event survey to the February program participants. Surveys are to be returned by July 3rd. Barb will review the results at our July 11th meeting. Vice Chair Kistler and Commission member Cribelli will attend the June 24th meeting at the Museum of Discovery to discuss the upcoming "Skin" and "Bias" exhibits and how to promote community involvement. We will discuss the outcome of this meeting at our July 11th meeting. (Chair Jaeger will send all information about these exhibits). Commission member Yoshioka and Vice Chair Kistler will meet to discuss the October "Cross Cultural Communication" program. Vice Chair Kistler will send all the email invitation to the Human Library program. All will send these invitations to friends and professional contacts beginning June 17th. Chair Jaeger will provide all with the Human Library "talking points." Commission member Bryan and Melanie will work with CPIO to update the HRC website with the new HR Awards language and nomination form. Our goal is to open the nomination period on July 15th. Chair Jaeger and Vice Chair Kistler will meet with the Disability Advisory Board on June 20th to discuss their involvement in the December 12th HR Awards Ceremony. All were requested to save the following important dates: November 14th (HRC meeting to select HR Award recipients) and December 12th (the HR Awards Ceremony). Chair Jaeger will invite Mayor Pro Tem Emily Francis to our July 11th meeting. If she is not available, we will invite a representative from the BIPOC Alliance or ISAAC to attend. Our hope is to have these presentations at one of our next three meetings. b. NEXT MEETING – JULY 11 – AGENDA ITEMS? 11. ADJOURNMENT – The meeting was adjourned at 6:55 pm. Minutes approved by the Chair and a vote of the Board/Commission on 07/11/24 6/13/24 – MINUTES Page 1