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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHUMAN RELATIONS COMMISSION - MINUTES - 07/11/2024 Human Relations Commission REGULAR MEETING Thursday, July 11, 2024 – 5:30 PM City Hall; CIC Conference Room, 300 Laporte Ave and Zoom 1. CALL TO ORDER: 5:30 PM 2. ROLL CALL a. Commission Members Present – Beth Jaeger, Barb Kistler, Masood Ahmad, Phil Walker, Rachel Bryan, Coronda Ziegler b. Commission Members Absent – Teresa Cribelli, Miho Yoshioka c. Staff Members Present – Liz Messenger, Lead Equity & Inclusion Specialist, Melanie Clark, Staff Liaison d. Guest – Mayor Pro Tem Francis 3. AGENDA REVIEW Chair Jaeger reported that Hillel Katzir who serves as a liaison to the County’s Advisory Board, now has a commitment on Thursday’s which conflicts with the HRC meetings but will remain as the liaison. Three CSU students creating a documentary on democracy attended the meeting to record snippets of the commission meeting. 4. APPROVAL OF MINUTES – JUNE 13, 2024 Commission member Ziegler motioned to approve the June 13, 2024 minutes. Commission member Bryan seconded 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. The Commission will not need to spend money on the Human Library as this is being funded by a grant from Larimer County Behavioral Health Services. 7. NEW BUSINESS a. DISCUSSION WITH MAYOR PRO TEM EMILY FRANCIS – HRC COUNCIL LIAISON Mayor Pro Tem Francis shared that Council has a list of priorities focused on housing, 15-minute communities, environment, and electrification. They are having discussions on how to address these over the next 2 years. Francis mentioned Council will be adopting a new budget. The City Manager’s recommended budget will be coming out Labor Day weekend. She indicated that Council will need to explore ways to tighten the budget. Vice Chair Kistler asked how the City is deciding what sensitive spaces are included in the new State legislation on prohibiting firearms in sensitive places. Mayor Pro Tem Francis stated Council has not discussed the issue. This came from the State and is an administrative task; therefore, this would be for staff to decide, but Council would direct staff if there were concerns about the direction it was going. Kistler asked if Commission members had any desire to weigh in on what sensitive spaces are. They agreed this would be worth a discussion. Mayor Pro Tem Francis stated that the Commission can invite staff to a meeting to have the discussion. Mayor Pro Tem Francis shared other updates on where the City is with U+2, Land Use Code updates, and the North College corridor. b. FOLLOW-UP: DEIJ NETWORKING EVENT SURVEY Vice Chair Kistler stated that the planning group is looking at a space in a Larimer County building in Loveland. If this space is not big enough, Northside Aztlan Center is still reserved. Kistler shared that nine responses were received from the survey. Of those responses, most liked that it was an open concept event and there was some energy around having a short presentation followed by a discussion and then open networking. Individuals would like to see the event grouped around topics vs sectors. Everyone wants a directory with people and organizations wanting to be able to opt in. Kistler stated that marketing will start in August to promote the next networking event. c. FOLLOW-UP RE: FORT COLLINS MUSEUM OF DISCOVERY SPECIAL EXHIBITIONS: “SKIN: LIVING ARMOR, EVOLVING IDENTITY” AND “BIAS” AND COMMUNITY CONNECTION (JUNE 24TH MEETING) Kistler explained the museum held a second meeting regarding the two upcoming exhibitions, ‘Skin’ and ‘Bias’. The Smithsonian sent out evergreen posters that can be used to support the “Bias” exhibit. They also sent a tailored conversational dialogue tool kit. Kistler stated the Museum is trying to get community organizations involved and engaged in hosting dialogue and training and are looking for facilitators for these two exhibitions. Kistler stated that out of this meeting, the City’s Conflict Resolution team would like to present to HRC. Commission member Ziegler had questions about whether an event would need to be posted as a public meeting if one member was attending a function as an attendee or in their role for their job, but other Commission members were in attendance. Commission members also questioned if they gathered socially if it would need to be posted as a public meeting. Melanie will check with Davina Lau and City Attorneys and will bring information back at the next meeting. 8. OLD BUSINESS a. COMMITTEE REPORTS: • EDUCATION OUTREACH – UPDATE RE: “CROSS CULTURAL COMMUNICATION” AND “HUMAN LIBRARY” PROGRAMS There were no updates for the Cross Cultural Communication training. The Commission will follow up on this at the next meeting in August. Commission members discussed mapping out outreach efforts for the three programs occurring in the fall and being intentional as the same individuals and organizations will likely be receiving the invitations/notifications. At the August meeting they will discuss the timing of their program communications. Chair Jaeger shared there are currently 30 – 34 books for the Human Library program. The plan is to have books participate in 3 of the 4 sessions so they too can participate as an attendee/Reader. They are hoping to have 200 registrations and are discussing different ways to market the event to increase the registrations. Chair Jaeger and Vice Chair Kistler have presented to the Disability Advisory Board, worked with Rabbi Katzir on a podcast, and will be doing a presentation at a County meeting and the Cultural Services Board to continue promoting the program. Chair Jaeger inquired about getting information out to all Boards and Commissions. She will work with Davina Lau to get notification out. Commission members were asked to attend the program and serve as volunteers if they can. Ahmad, Walker, and Bryan offered to volunteer for the program. • MEDIA/COMMUNITY RECOGNITION COMMITTEE – FOLLOW-UP: PLANNING FOR 2024 HUMAN RELATIONS AWARDS – WEBSITE STATUS, CALL FOR NOMINATIOS MEMO, AND DISABILITY ADVISORY BOARD COLLABORATION Melanie shared the registration form has been posted on the website and is live along with the webpage updates. Vice Chair Kistler inquired whether the call for nominations memo had been translated into Spanish. She will work with Alma to translate the document. Chair Jaeger asked Commission member Bryan to share the memo in a word format. Melanie shared that the City will start marketing the event on their social media and newsletters in early September. They will do a second push early October and again approximately two weeks prior to the event. Chair Jaeger stated they could advertise the awards program at the networking event. Melanie shared that she discussed with the Communications office about creating a poster for the event and suggested placing posters in different areas of the City to attract other members of the public. Commission members discussed creating a poster to advertise all upcoming events hosted by HRC. Melanie will reach out to the Communications office. Chair Jaeger thought they should wait after the August 4 Human Library event to start sending out messages. Commission members discussed creating a list serve to better manage their contact list and to allow individuals to opt in/out of receiving messages. Melanie will look into the possibility of having one created. Vice Chair mentioned that they have discussed how awkward it is for them to have to use their personal emails to send messages for HRC business. She explained that Melanie is the only one who has access to the HRC email. Melanie will look into whether Boards and Commission members can be issued an fcgov email address. Chair Jaeger shared she and Vice Chair Kistler attended the Disability Advisory Board meeting where members discussed their interest in participating in the award ceremony. Melanie shared DAB will discuss the awards program at their next meeting in July and will provide an update to HRC in August. • GOVERNMENT RELATIONS – No report • EXECUTIVE – No report 9. ANNOUNCEMENTS Kistler stated CSU’s Inclusive Excellence Symposium is Oct 21 – 25 and the next Interfaith Council’s Our Neighbor’s Faith meeting will be held on September 12 at the Church of Latter- Day Saints. Kistler shared there is a new documentary called “Un-divide Us” that she has heard really good things about. Melanie shared that the City is looking to move to Microsoft Teams for the public meeting platform as opposed to Zoom. They are currently in the fact-finding stage, but plan to provide training to Boards and Commission members when they make the switch. Vice Chair Kistler stated the Interfaith Council is bringing a virtual program to Fort Collins on July 29 at the Old Town Library that is a dialogue between a Palestinian and an Israeli who are doing conversations around the country. Hillel Katzir reached out to HRC to inquire about co-sponsorship on this program. HRC is not able to co-sponsor the event, but they can refer it to the City’s Equity Office. 10. NEXT MEETING – AUGUST 8 – AGENDA ITEMS? Review upcoming programs, including the DEIJ Networking Event (September 22nd), Cross- Cultural Communication program (October 9th), and the HR Awards Program (December 12th), and determine the ideal timing for promotion, the most effective and clear communication process, and most efficient way to create mailing lists (list serve?) using the HRC mailbox. Liz will confirm whether a representative from the BIPOC Alliance will be able to attend the August 8th meeting; if not, an invitation will be extended to a representative from ISAAC. 11. ADJOURNMENT – The meeting was adjourned at 7:25 pm. Minutes approved by the Chair and a vote of the Board/Commission on 8/8/24 7/11/24 – MINUTES Page 1