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Home My WebLink AboutHUMAN RELATIONS COMMISSION - MINUTES - 01/09/20251/9/2025 – MINUTES Human Relations Commission REGULAR MEETING Thursday, January 9, 2025 – 5:30 PM City Hall: CIC Conference Room, 300 Laporte Ave and Microsoft Teams 1. CALL TO ORDER: 5:30 PM 2. ROLL CALL a. Commission Members Present – Beth Jaeger (Chair), Barb Kistler (Vice Chair), Rachel Bryan, Coronda Ziegler, Teresa Cribelli, Masood Ahmad, Miho Yoshioka (late arrival) b. Commission Members Absent – Phil Walker c. Staff Members Present – Liz Messenger, Lead Equity & Inclusion Specialist d. Public Participant – Carol McCloskey Fatima Prieto was introduced as the new EDI Advisory Board liaison who will be attending the HRC meetings as a non-voting member. 3. AGENDA REVIEW Chair Jaeger reviewed the agenda items. 4. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION Carol McCloskey commented on receiving an anonymous letter in December indicating it was from a City employee regarding McCloskey's driving. McCloskey expressed concern about discrimination for being a female and a senior citizen and requested some type of investigation. Chair Jaeger apologized to McCloskey for the experience and stated Liz Messenger would make necessary contacts within the City organization. Messenger noted these types of things are taken very seriously by the City. 5. APPROVAL OF MINUTES – NOVEMBER 14, 2024 Commission member Ziegler motioned to approve the November 14, 2024 minutes. Vice Chair Kistler seconded the motion. Motion passed 7-0. 6. BUDGET REVIEW Chair Jaeger noted the Commission had a balance of $2,313 in early December and 1/9/2025 – MINUTES stated Messenger will be looking into final expenses to help for 2025 planning. Additionally, Chair Jaeger noted the Commission has been fully funded at $6,100 for the new year. 7. NEW BUSINESS a. Approval of HRC 2024 Annual Report – due January 31, 2025 Chair Jaeger commended the group on coming together to focus on the Commission’s goals and mission in 2024. Commissioners discussed amendments to the Annual Report. Commission member Ahmad motioned to approve the 2024 Annual Report as amended. Commission member Ziegler seconded the motion. Motion passed 7-0. Chair Jaeger will submit the approved 2024 Annual Report to the City by January 31st. 8. OLD BUSINESS a. Committee Reports • Community Recognition Committee: Human Relations Awards December 12, 2024 Event; Discuss potential 2025 activities based on HRC’s 2025 Work Plan Commission member Bryan led a discussion regarding what went well and what could be improved with the nomination process, program logistics, and program content. Commission members discussed possible changes for the 2025 event and outlined the proposed award categories, including individual, organizational/team, youth/youth supporting, and rising star. Commission members also discussed using a rubric for nominations. Commission member Yoshioka suggested not having a youth supporting award and only having a youth award if there are youth nominations. Commission members also discussed renaming the youth award to include a broader range of ages. Members also discussed the voting criteria and protocol and specifically commended Melanie Clark’s work on the event. Commission members concurred that having the event on a non-City Council meeting evening is valuable. Messenger stated she would work on scheduling the 2025 event. Chair Jaeger asked Commission member Bryan to bring recommendations re: the 2025 Award process and program to the 1/9/2025 – MINUTES February 13th meeting, including nomination categories and program date. Commission member Bryan discussed employee resource group meetings and the possibility of making a template for programming. • Education Outreach: Discuss potential 2025 activities based on HRC’s 2025 Work Plan Commission member Yoshioka led a discussion regarding potential education and outreach activities, including topics such as neurodiversity, workplace culture, the age of digital technology and AI, and ways to remind people they are not alone, and that support groups exist. She asked how the number of annual outreach events have been determined in the past. Chair Jaeger stated one educational effort per year has been the typical cadence and noted the HRC has committed to The Human Library collaboration event in February 2026, planning for which will likely begin in July. She stated the typical budget for one educational event is about $1,000-1,500 if food is offered. Commission member Yoshioka suggested it may make sense to have one event showcasing something that already exists and one event that is more educational in nature, such as the cross-cultural communication event the Commission hosted last year. Commission members discussed the possibility of collaborating with the Disability Advisory Board to offer an educational program on neurodiversity. Commissioner Cribelli noted she already has a presentation prepared on that topic as well as others, including belonging and understanding historical inequities. Commission Member Ziegler motioned to begin work on a neurodiversity event. Commission member Ahmad seconded the motion. Motion passed 7-0. Chair Jaeger asked Commissioner Yoshioka to bring recommendations re: a neurodiversity educational program to the February 13th meeting. • Government Relations: Discuss potential 2025 activities based on HRC’s 2025 Work Plan Vice Chair Kistler noted the Colorado legislative session has begun and she will be attending the first local Town Hall on Saturday. She stated the largest issue with City Council right now is the Connexion workers desiring to unionize and the City Manager not recognizing the union. She also noted the State recently passed a bill related to PROPWA rules and stated there continues to be no traction related to the adoption of a Gaza ceasefire resolution. 1/9/2025 – MINUTES Vice Chair Kistler stated a meeting has been planned with the JEDI Coalition to start discussions about collaborating on the DEIJ networking events. • Executive: Update re: 2024 Human Rights Day Proclamation – December 3, 2024 City Council meeting; County EDI Advisory Board Liaison; HRC social event Commissioners noted the Human Rights Day Proclamation occurred on December 3rd and was received by Vice Chair Kistler on behalf of the HRC. Vice Chair Kistler proposed hosting a social dinner at her home for members and significant others, perhaps at the end of this Board term, potentially April 4th, for existing and incoming members and staff. 9. BOARD MEMBER REPORTS Commission member Cribelli commented on the Colorado Disability Opportunity Office which was just created by the Governor and noted Colorado has been named the top state for people with disabilities due to the support and number of programs available. 10. STAFF REPORTS Messenger noted the Commission received a request from Ginny Sawyer, City Manager’s Office Lead Project Manager, to speak to the Commission regarding rounds of awareness and engagement on the Community Capital Improvement Program (CCIP) tax renewal that will be on the November 2025 ballot. Additionally, Messenger commented on items that can be discussed via email within open meetings laws. 11. OTHER BUSINESS Commissioners discussed having a representative from the BIPOC Alliance attend the February or March meeting. Vice Chair Kistler noted the Fort Collins Museum of Discovery has extended the Skin exhibit to April 27th. Commissioner Ziegler thanked those who stepped in for her at various events in December. 12. ADJOURNMENT a. The meeting was adjourned at 7:19 PM. 1/9/2025 – MINUTES Minutes approved by the Chair and a vote of the Board/Commission on XX/XX/XX Signature: