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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuman Relations Commission - Minutes - 08/11/2005Human Relations Commission Meeting Minutes August 11, 2005 HRC Members Present: Parker Preble, Caroline Tu Farley, Lester Washington, Joann Ginal, Jack Coleman, Maryanne Ingratta, Paige Backlund Jarquin HRC Members Absent: Elaine Boni, Moin Siddiqui Staff Members Present: Kelly DiMartino, Kelly Courkamp I. Call to Order Meeting was called to order at 5:35 p.m. II. Public Input No report. III. Guest Speaker No guest speaker. IV. Agenda Review Agenda approved. V. Approval of Minutes Commission members agreed that the requested corrections of minutes do not need to be reflected in the current minutes unless a member makes a request to do so. Minutes approved at the end of the meeting with a motion by Maryanne that Paige seconded. VI. Committee Reports A. Executive Delegation Parker recommended that Maryanne present the Human Rights Protection Ordinance to City Council on September 6; Maryanne said she would consider the offer. Members discussed Glen Colton's article "Growing U.S. can't Absorb Cost of Mass Immigration" (published on August 8, 2005 in the Coloradoan) and agreed that Parker should write a letter to the editor in response. B. Education and Community Outreach Human Relations Commission Minutes August 11, 2005 Page 2 of 4 Joann provided the latest draft of the HRC brochure to the Commission for their review. She also passed out copies of a draft PowerPoint presentation providing an overview of the HRC and asked that members email her with changes. Members also discussed the HRC email address (hrcna fc ov.com) and agreed that all emails should be forwarded to all commission members, an auto response should be sent to senders, and Parker will respond or designate someone to respond within one week. Joann offered to present information to the group about recent changes to Medicare/Medicaid and is scheduled to present in October. She will invite a member of the Senior Advisory Board to the October presentation. The Education and Community Outreach Committee will choose the date of the September HRC coffee talk in committee and report to the commission. C. Government Relations Maryanne reported that the HRC will facilitate a forum "Diverse Voices in our Community" at the Connect People, Create Community Conference on September 17 at the Summitview Community Church, and she would like input in regards to assembling a panel. Maryanne also reported that the translation list is nearly complete and the diversity data is in progress. The library ran out of police complaint packets quickly, so those will be replaced; the committee will also follow up regarding getting the form online. D. Media & Community Recognition The Commission reviewed Lester's article regarding the Human Rights Protection Ordinance and gave him feedback. A revised article will be presented to the commission for approval. Lester will also follow up with the Coloradoan as to why Dr. Siddiqui's article was not published. VII. Liaison Reports A. Northern Colorado Multicultural Corporation (Maryanne) Maryanne reported that the NCMC has scheduled a Not In Our Town movie and completed a diversity calendar. She also noted that the HRC should try to get on the 2006 agenda of the Diversity Conference at CSU. B. NIOT Alliance (Jack) Jack reported that the NIOT Alliance has formed three major committees (Prevention, Response, and Evaluation) with a strong liaison from each committee to help other Human Relations Commission Minutes August 11, 2005 Page 3 of 4 groups in the region. Members agreed to give Jack time on the agenda at a future meeting to present to why the HRC should support the Institute for Healing Racism. C. Latino Action Council (Paige) Paige reported that the service subcommittee of the Latino Action Council petitioned FirstCall 211 to create a database of businesses with bilingual language services. D. Interfaith Council (Moin) No report. E. ERACISM Film Series (Caroline) Caroline provided the HRC with the film series schedule and encouraged members to attend. VIII. Budget Report Kelly DiMartino shared that the 2005 HRC Budget is expended; the cost of the HRC email account came from the City Manager's Office budget. Kelly also explained to members that in the Budgeting for Outcomes process, the full budget request from the HRC is not expected to be funded. The HRC's Budget for 2006 currently stands at $2100. City Council will hear public input regarding the budget on September 20 and October 4. IX. Old Business A. Parker and Lester attend a Boulder HRC meeting; the Boulder HRC has 5 members and a $10,000 budget from which they allocate funds for projects. Both expressed interest in connecting HRC groups in Northern Colorado and attend other HRC meetings in the area. B. Human Rights Protection Ordinance The Commission further discussed strategies for presenting the HRPO to Council on September 6. Jack proposed that the Commission and the Taskforce should present the ordinance from a legal standpoint. Members scheduled a strategic planning meeting on August 16 and asked Kelly DiMartino to invite the Taskforce to attend. C. Meeting Reflections Regarding the July 14 minutes, Parker noted that while the HRC may not investigate issues, it is appropriate to contact constituents. As previously discussed, the legal reasons against contact individuals include exclusion in the appeal process. Human Relations Commission Minutes August 11, 2005 Page 4 of 4 The HRC needs to continue to work on community outreach. It is also important to distribute the police complaint packets in as many places as possible. Caroline motioned and Jack seconded for Parker to write a rebuttal of Glen Colton's article in a letter to the editor and send it to the Coloradoan. The motion passed 4-3 with Maryanne, Joann, and Paige dissenting because they felt the commission should review the letter before Parker sent it. Upon further discussion, the group agreed Parker would email the article to the commission; members would have 24 hours to review the article, and then Parker would send it on to the Coloradoan. X. New Business & Announcements The Native American Music Festival, hosted by the Fort Collins Museum, will be on September 2-3 at Library Park. Maryanne received an email regarding a protest to the anti -gay marriage amendment in Colorado on September 16. Maryanne will invite a representative to the November HRC meeting. Paige proposed the homeless population as a future topic of the HRC. Maryanne noted that Council will evaluate all Boards and Commissions in January 2006. Kelly DiMartino confirmed that the Human Rights Office has physically relocated to the Human Resources Office at 215 North Mason. XI. Adjournment Meeting adjourned at 8:20 p.m. io Parker Preble, Chair Signed on this date: L / � /o200J Iftnarltino,