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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuman Relations Commission - Minutes - 11/10/2005Human Relations Commission Meeting Minutes November 10, 2005 HRC Members Present — Elaine Boni, Paige Backlund Jarquin (arrived late), Maryanne Ingratta, Parker Preble, Caroline Tu Farley, Lester Washington HRC Members Absent — Jack Coleman, Joann Ginal Staff Members Present: Becky O'Donnell, Staff Liaison; Wendy Hartzell, Secretary I. Call to order Chair Parker Preble called the meeting to order at 5:34 p.m. IL Public Input No report. III. Guest Speaker No guest speaker. Wendy Hartzell introduced herself and announced she would be taking the minutes for the HRC. IV. Agenda Review Parker Preble asked that a volunteer track the time allotted for each agenda item in order to assist members in staying on track. Becky O'Donnell agreed to monitor the time of each agenda item and will give a signal to speakers as time is running out for each item. V. Approval of Minutes Changes were noted on the bottom of page 3 of the September 8, 2005 minutes. Maryanne Ingratta made a motion to approve the minutes as corrected. Elaine Boni seconded the motion. There was no discussion and the motion passed 6-0. VI. Committee Reports A. Executive Delegation Letters to Task Force - Parker Preble stated he had signed the letters that were prepared for task force members and they are ready to send out. However, he did notice that letters prepared for Dr. Siddiqui, Dr. Harding and Dr. Valdez did not have the appropriate title. It was agreed by members that, since the letters were consistent in the salutation for each, it was permissible to send them out as is in the interest of timeliness. "Nay" vote at September meeting - Parker Preble addressed the reasons for his "nay" vote on the NIOTA-Healing Institute of Racism issue at the previous meeting. There was discussion regarding this issue and HRC member Jack Coleman's absence. Members agreed to contact him and urge him to return. Many felt he has much to contribute and is a valuable asset to the Commission. Becky O'Donnell reported that, after checking, if an item submitted to a vote is a tie (with one abstention), it does not pass. There must be a majority of votes for an item to be approved. Nominations - there was discussion regarding the upcoming election of officers and committee chairs. It was agreed to table nominations until the next meeting. Work Plan — there was discussion regarding the Work Plan and whether it should be broad and flexible or more focused and detailed. There is a special meeting scheduled for November 17, 2005, at 5:30 p.m. to discuss the Work Plan. It is due to the City Clerk's Office at the end of November. B. Education and Community Outreach Maryanne Ingratta reported that the Work Plan for the Education and Community Outreach Committee will be presented at the special meeting next week. She agreed that focus of Work Plan should be flexible. C. Government Relations Latino Action Council - Elaine Boni reported that she and Maryanne Ingratta went to the Latino Action Council two weeks ago. She stated that the mood was somber in the group after the failure of the Human Rights Protection Ordinance, but the group was very appreciative that Elaine and Maryanne attended the meeting. Translation of Discrimination Complaint Form — Elaine stated she had a meeting with Sgt. Pearson of Police Services and gave him the Spanish translation of the complaint form. They discussed putting this information on the City's web page. She clarified with Sgt. Pearson that the desire is to have the information on the web site so that citizens can print off the forms and fill them out. It is not necessary to have the ability to fill them out via the web site. She stated this would be an added efficiency and possibly save Police Services time and money. Diversity Survey — Elaine stated the survey information for 2003 and 2004 has been compiled. She stated it has been a tremendous amount of work and she thought it should be ready for submittal by February. She suggested that, at the time of submittal, the HRC request that this information be compiled only every five years. Visioning Conference — Elaine reported that that she attended the Visioning Conference sponsored by the Human Rights Office on November 2-3, 2005. She stated that inroads are being made and thought the Conference was very exciting and beneficial. She distributed summary information from the Conference to Commission members. She stated Dr. Richard Florida was the keynote speaker, and he states that a community must have technology, talent and tolerance in order to be vibrant. She stated "tolerance" in this sense means "proactive inclusion." She said Florida also stated that there is a direct correlation between vibrant communities that also have a vibrant GLBT (Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgendered) community. Citizen Review Board — Elaine reported she continues to attend the CRB monthly meetings. D. Media & Community Recognition Coloradoan - Lester Washington reported that he met with Pat Ferrier of the Coloradoan. She apologized for the missing columns and outlined the schedule for HRC articles — due the Thursday before the third Saturday of each month. Lester distributed information to the Commission including the schedule and a calendar of events and article topics for next year. Lester stated that he will resubmit Dr. Siddiqui's article for the November 19 deadline. There was discussion about future articles and when they would be submitted. Lester stated he would like to have two to three articles ready for submission. He will look for additional information to include on the calendar of events. If others have additions or suggestions, please send them to him. Maryanne Ingratta suggested submitting an article for Black History Month. Lester will prepare it and bring it to the Commission for review. Pat Ferrier also suggested that if the Human Rights Office closes, the Coloradoan may request more articles from the Commission. There was general discussion, and the Commission agreed that it would be able to provide additional articles. Becky O'Donnell stated she has asked City managers about the status of the Human Rights Office and who will investigate discrimination complaints. She is waiting for their response. HRC Awards Breakfast — Lester stated there is not a confirmed date for the awards. He will check with the Mayor's schedule with the City Manager's Office and then check with the Lincoln Center. Business cards — Lester reported that there were additional changes and he should have them ready next week. VII. Liaison Reports A. Northern Colorado Multiculutral Corporation Maryanne Ingratta reported that last week's meeting was cancelled and rescheduled for November 9, so she obviously was unable to attend. She reported that the NCMC has its mission, goals and action plan prepared, which includes a community -wide diversity calendar; diversity speakers bureau for northern Colorado; key involvement in Not in Our Town; key resource for training; and co-sponsorship of MLK, Essay Contest, CSU Diversity Retreat, Eracism Film Series and Caesar Chavez Day. B. NIOT Alliance Maryanne Ingratta stated that Jack Coleman had reported to her that they are working on 501(3)(c) designation. The NIOT —Loveland group continues to address racist incidents in Loveland. Parker Preble asked if the Fort Collins and Loveland group would be combining. Many members attend both Fort Collins and Loveland meetings. Maryanne stated that originally they were together but the rest of the committee chose not to have them combined. C. Latino Action Council Maryanne Ingratta and Elaine Boni attended. Mims Hams conducted a focus group for purposes of the Visioning Conference. The Council is currently undergoing some leadership issues and investigating whether their efforts are duplicate efforts in the community. The Service Guide is still being considered. D. Interfaith Council No report as Moin Siddiqui was absent. E. Eracism Film Series Caroline Tu Farley reported that a new review of films will start in January. All agreed the Film Series is very good and valuable. Caroline stated she was going to suggest films that represent contributions from people of color in times of war. VIL Budget Report Becky O'Donnell reported that City Council will be adopting the final budget on November 15, 2005. She will know after that date the final amount budgeted for the HRC Awards Breakfast. There are no funds budgeted for other items. It was stated that the Mayor had mentioned in an article of the Bullhorn that if the Human Rights Office closes, the HRC will be asked to take over some of its functions. Members questioned how this would be possible if no additional funds are budgeted. 0 IX. Old Business A. Meeting reflections Elaine Boni added to her report by distributing an updated list of translators. Becky O'Donnell will prepare an updated membership list and distribute to members. Lester Washington added that he is on the board for KRFC and may be able to provide air time for promotional events. B. Homeless Paige Backlund Jarquin will continue to try to do research on this issue and bring back information to the HRC. X. New Business Letter regarding CSU Hip Hop Explosion — There was discussion regarding a response to a letter received regarding concerns about judging at the CSU Hip Hop Explosion. It was agreed that the Chair would send a letter to the complainants acknowledging the incident and referring the complainant to the Human Rights Office for investigation and/or mediation. Eracism support — Maryanne Ingratta stated that she and Joann had discussed this and are in support, although the group has not approached the HRC to request funds. She stated Joann Ginal will follow up with Catherine Hicks. Corresponding with citizens — Parker Preble asked Becky O'Donnell if it is true that members cannot correspond with citizens. She stated it would depend on the response. It was clarified that the Commission can educate and inform but cannot investigate or take sides. HRC emails — Paige Backlund Jarquin stated that amount of HRC emails to review are becoming a bit overwhelming. It was agreed that members would use restraint in emailing between meetings and would use caution when selecting "reply all." It was also recommend that email titles be changed to reflect the content of the email and not the "forwarded" title if message content is different. Elections — nominations were discussed. All would be interested in staying in their current posts. Caroline Tu Farley stated she will continue as Vice Chair unless another member is interested in taking the position. Elaine Boni asked that the Commission re- visit committee assignments when it considers nominations at next month's meeting. Absences — Becky O'Donnell clarified that a member can only have three unexcused absences and four excused absences before automatic termination from the Commission. XI. Adjournment Caroline Tu Farley made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Maryanne Ingratta seconded the motion. There was no discussion and the motion passed 6-0. The meeting adjoukmed at 7:15 p.m. Parker Preble, Chair Becky O'Donnell, Staff Liaison Signed on this date: ` l2 - DL,) 181