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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuman Relations Commission - Minutes - 03/10/2005Human Relations Commission Meeting Minutes March 10, 2005 HRC Members Present: Caroline Tu Farley, Maryanne Ingratta, Elaine Boni, Parker Preble, JoAnn Ginal, Mohammed Siddiqui, Jack Coleman, Lester Washington, Paige Backlund Jarquin. HRC Members Absent: none Staff Members Present: Brenda Speake I. Call to Order Meeting was called to order at 5:30 p.m. Il. Public Input Two gentlemen were in attendance from the Mennonite Church. They attended in order to observe the Commission and its functions. III. Agenda Review Parker re -ordered the agenda to place the Executive Delegation Committee Report in from of the other Committee Reports. IV. Approval of Minutes V. Committee Reports a. Executive Delegation Parker announced that this is the first time in a number of years that the HRC has had a full complement of the Commission. Parker requested that each HRC member answer the following questions: 1. What you have done since serving on the HRC. 2. What you would like to do while continuing to serve on the HRC. i. Lester Washington — Since serving on the HRC, he has become familiar with the goals, objectives and organization of he HRC and to see where his background might fit in. In the future, he wants to make the city a more diverse place, see unity throughout the community and make good decisions. ii. JOAnn Ginal — Since serving on the HRC, she has observed the organization of the HRC and the leadership. In the future, she wants to increase cultural diversity, create community partnerships and make major contributions. iii. Jack Coleman — Since serving on the HRC, he has noticed that the HRC needs systematic planning and precise definitions of `prejudice' and `justice'. In the future, he wants to make progress on the submission of HRC articles to the Coloradoan and help heal racism. iv. Mohammed Siddiqui — Since serving on the HRC, he has educated himself about the HRC operations. In the future, he plans to start a cultural diversity program in the schools to bring about awareness as well as forming a speaker's bureau. V. Paige Backlund Jarquin — Paige is a new member of the HRC and her history involves working for the Peace Corps in Niceragua as well as working as a Latino advocate in Washington D.C. She hopes to continue advocacy work as a member of the HRC. Her specialty is community outreach work and wants to utilize the best practices method. She also joined the HRC because she is interested in the Human Rights Protection Ordinance and feels that it works against the Clear Act. vi. Elaine Boni — Since serving on the HRC, Elaine has been a member of the Police Committee, the liaison for the Human Rights Office and the Citizen Liaison Program, and is the chair of the Government Relations Committee. In the future, she wants to continue her government relations work because she feels it is her niche. vii. Maryanne Ingratta — Since serving on the HRC, she has been chair of the Diversity Committee. Maryanne expressed disappointment with the HRC experience and wants more community outreach and more communication with City Council. viii. Caroline Tu Farley — Since serving on the HRC, Caroline has been the chair of the Human Relations Awards Breakfast, chair of the Education Committee and a member of the Police Committee. She also helped organize the NIOT forum. In the future, she wants to pursue a speaker's bureau as well as expand on the NIOT program. ix. Parker Preble — Since serving on the HRC, he has turned down several past chairmanships, solicited award nominations from various junior high schools, organized data for City Council, and became interim chair of the HRC and finally chair. In the future, he wants to make the HRC a Commission of active committees, engender enthusiasm and get new ideas. Parker and Caroline requested that each committee provide a monthly schedule to be posted by Brenda each month. The HRC discussed the HRC investigatory powers and associated amendments to City Code. The HRC members concluded that the memo serves to explain that the HRC cannot make investigatory decisions. Greg Tempel's memo is as follows: I met with Parker Preble on February 23, 2005 to discuss in more detail the functions of the HRC and whether or not it still retained the authority to investigate allegations of discrimination. At the last HRC meeting, I was presented with the original ordinance creating the HRC. That original ordinance provided the HRC with an investigatory function. My explanation at the meeting about how City Council had changed the functions of the HRC over time to remove the investigatory function may not have been very clear. City Council adopts the law of the City via the passage of ordinances. Those ordinances are codified in the City Code and the City Code is kept up to date by the City Clerk. The original ordinance creating the HRC was repealed by City Council in 1986 when it passed Ordinance No. 158, 1986. In this 1986 Ordinance, the City Council set forth the new functions of the HRC, which functions did not include an investigatory function. Since, 1986, the City Council has tweaked the functions of the HRC several times via ordinances so that the current functions of the HRC are as set forth in section 2-263 of the City Code (copy attached). The current functions of the HRC do not include an investigatory function. To restore that function to the HRC or to make any other changes to the functions described in the City Code would require the adoption of an ordinance by City Council. Additionally, it is possible for the City Council to assign the HRC additional functions on an ad hoc basis by adopting a resolution (please see City Code section 2-263(5) in the attached). HRC members discussed the Federal Heritage Festival in May, 2005. The Commission supports it. Caroline requested that each committee submit a budget request to Darin and City Council by April 25`h. The HRC members discussed the 2005 HRC budget and all agreed to keep the breakfast awards on the agenda for this year. The decision to pursue the breakfast awards in the future was deferred to the Media and Community Recognition Committee. Caroline reported on the Religious Movement Resource Center. b. Education JoAnn requested that the education committee meet on every second Monday of every month at 6:30 p.m. in the CIC room at City Hall. JoAnn reviewed future direction for the education committee. JoAnn presented the need for a speaker at the Heritage Forum. JoAnn dedicated the task of updating the HRC pamphlet to the education committee. HRC members discussed the possibility of attending more community meetings. C. Government Relations Elaine reported on the Citizen Liaison Training Program that some of the HRC members completed this month. d. Media and Community Recognition Lester reported on planning updates for the breakfast awards. Lester sent out invitations to nominate to various CSU departments. Caroline reported speaking with Michael Limon from the Coloradoan, who will publish the HRC's first introductory article this month. Caroline also reported that the Coloradoan will write an article on the NIOT forum, but will not print the Soapbox due to timing. VII. Liaison Reports a. Community Based i. Northern Colorado Multicultural Corp. No report. ii. NIOT Caroline reported on planning updates for the forum. iii. Business to Business This liaison report is no longer functioning and HRC members decided to delete this item from future agendas. iv. Education HRC members discussed the vision of the CSU education liaison and how it can work together with the Education Committee. V. InterFaith Council Mohammed reported attending this month's Interfaith Dialogue Group meeting. vi. ERACISM film series No report. VII. Budget Report Brenda updated HRC members on the 2005 budget. VIII. Old Business Multicultural Community Retreat — HRC members discussed the productivity of the retreat. ii. HRPO Task Force — HRC members discussed the option of bringing the ordinance to Council prior to the elections. iii. Meeting Reflections — Parker reflected on the motivation of the night's meeting. IX. New Business NIOT Resolution — HRC members discussed the resolution text. Lester motioned to accept the NIOT resolution as written. Maryanne seconded. Motion carried. HRC members agreed to notify City Council of the resolution and discussed the appropriate way to do so. X. Adjournment Parker moved to adjourn. Meeting adjourned at 7:52 p.m. Parker Preble, Chairperson Signed on this date: VO A l l2 , A D D S Kelly DiMartino, Staff Liaison