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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuman Relations Commission - Minutes - 05/08/2003Human Relations Commission Community Room 215 N. Mason May 8, 2003, 5:30 — 7:30 p.m. Council Liaison: David Roy Staff Liaison: Angelina Powell Phone V: 407-7393 Phone: 221-6525 Chairperson: Ken Gordon Phone: 217-6317 Vice Chairperson: Mary Ellen Gomez Phone: 491-7375 A regular meeting of the Human Relations Commission was held on May 8, 2003 in the CIC Room, 300 W. LaPorte Avenue. HRC Members present HRC Members absent /with notification HRC Members absent /without prior notification Council Liaison present Staff Members present Mary Gomez, Ken Gordon, Jr., Rita Klepac, Parker Preble, Richard Miller, Christina Serrano Kimberly Clouser, Erik Rush Jack Coleman David Roy Angelina Powell, Staff Liaison Call to Order. The meeting was officially called to order by Chair Ken Gordon, Jr. at 5:35 p.m. II. Approval of Minutes. Parker Preble made a motion to approve the minutes of April 10, 2003. 2003. Rita Klepac seconded it. Those present voted unanimously to accept the minutes without change. III. Subcommittee Reports. Human Relations Award Subcommittee. Chair Ken Gordon congratulated all involved in the successful execution of the 2003 Human Relations Awards. He especially wanted to offer Subcommittee Chair Kimberly Clouser kudos for a job well done! He asked if there were suggestions to consider for improving the process/event. Suggestions were: start soliciting youth nominations earlier by visiting the schools, continue new tradition of having HRC members participate as MCs, change the event program to capitalize more on the HRC, consider coordinating the event with other organizations giving awards to volunteers such as United Way Extraordinary Volunteer, Larimer County State of the Community, City Neighborhood Office Civility Awards. Diversity Subcommittee No report. Police Subcommittee. Subcommittee Chair Richard Miller reported that for the past 30 months a representative of the Police Subcommittee had attended the Citizens Review Board (CRB) meetings. He felt, however, the CRB is pretty self reliant with good support from the Police Department and the District Attorney's office. The CRB can provide translators and has made great inroads into the community. In addition, there have not been "any cries from the Human Relations Commission Page 2 community" for our action on their behalf. For all the reasons listed above plus the fact he believed that resources assigned to that subcommittee could be better utilized elsewhere, he recommend we ceased attending CRB meetings and providing support for the Citizen's Liaison Program. Chair Ken Gordon appreciated his feedback and mentioned that he and Vice Chair Mary Gomez would schedule a meeting with the Chair of the CRB, Becky Richardson, to discuss the need for future interaction. Christina Serrano volunteered to work as a liaison if was deemed appropriate after that meeting. Executive Delegation Subcommittee: In this subcommittee Chair Ken Gordon will work with Vice Chair Mary Gomez on items such as Annual Reports, Work Plans, budget and overall commission business and report on those items at monthly meetings under this subcommittee section. IV. Liaison Reports Northern Colorado Multicultural Corp. There was discussion (in the same vein as the Police Subcommittee) of continued interaction with the Northern Colorado Multicultural Corp. The commission agreed they'd like to continue to network with the NCMC and Parker Preble has agreed to continue to act as their liaison. In addition, Parker will approach Chair Keane Richardson about being a guest speaker. Long term, the commission would like to seek ways in which interactions would create synergistic results. Eracisim Film Series _Rita Klepac reported on progress being made by the Foothills Unitarian Eracism Film Series Group. They continue to meet monthly to plan the 3`d annual film series. The series will be held at the Senior Center in September and October this year. They're currently reviewing films and securing guest speakers such as the Coloradoan's Publisher, Dorothy Bland. V. Old Business. Retreat Followup. Chair Ken Gordon asked members to consider the development of a one -line mission statement that embodied a description of the focus of the Human Relations Commission. Ken asked members to submit their ideas to him prior to the next meeting. Vice Chair Mary Gomez asked that once a one -line statement was developed that it was also translated into Spanish and used with the English version. Budget. Chair Ken Gordon submitted the Commissions' budget requests except for the Institute for Healing Racism idea by the April 281h deadline. He wanted to investigate the Institute for Healing Racism idea further before offering it as a suggestion to the City Manager. Council PolicyAgenda. City Manager sent a letter of thanks for the ideas submitted for the City Council's Policy Agenda for 2003-05. Council Liaison David Roy, present at the meeting, also thanked the commission for their ideas and invited them to his District Outreach on Saturday, May 24 on that same topic should we like to make any more suggestions.. Public Relations On the topic of Cinco de Mayo and writing a soapbox supporting celebrating differences, Parker Preble submitted a news release to the Coloradoan prior to the 5`h of May but had not seen its publication. Parker Preble, Rita Klepac and Christina Serrano have volunteered to participated on the newly formed Public Relations Subcommittee to establish better communication channels with the community. Human Relations Commission Page 3 VI. New Business. Leadership Roles. Chair Ken Gordon outlined the way he'd like to do business during his tenure as Chair of the Commission. He views the Chair as the person who facilitates the meetings, has primary responsibility for marketing the commission and promotes networking opportunities. He views the Vice Chair as the person that works directly with him... occasionally chairing the meeting. That person (Mary Gomez) is also the liaison to the Commissions' subcommittees. It is the responsibility of the Subcommittee Chairs to communicate regularly with the Vice Chair. She is responsible for developing and distributing the monthly meeting agenda. The Staff Liaison (Angelina Powell) will continue to act as the liaison between the City and the Commission as well as take and distribute minutes. Ken asks Commission members to participate in at least two subcommittees. He asks members to make the commitment of time and energy necessary "to know and work our plan." VI. Announcments None. VIL Adjournment. Mary Gomez made a motion to adjourn. Rita Klepac seconded the motion. The meeting was adjourned at 7:00 p.m. The next HRC meeting will be June 12, 2003, 5:30 p.m. in the CIC Room, 300 W. LaPorte Avenue. Approved: Ken Gordon, Jr. Chair OR— Ange i Powell, Staff Liaison