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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuman Relations Commission - Minutes - 04/13/1995HUMAN RELATIONS COMMISSION MINUTES Regular Meeting - April 13, 1995 Human Resources Conference Room, 200 W. Mountain Ave. 5:30 - 7:00 p.m. Council Liaison: Ann Azari Staff Liaisons: Jaime Mares Gabe Serenvi A regular meeting of the Human Relations Commission was held on April 13, 1995 in the Human Resources Conference Room, 200 W. Mountain Ave., Suite A. HRC Members present: Linda Beardsley, Rickie Calkins, Bob Lank, Shari Olson, Rick Payne and Ramona Robertson. HRC Members absent: Letty Coykendall, Man Oberoi. Guests present: Mayor Ann Azari, Lt. Deryle O'Dell, Fort Collins Police Services, and Citizens Liaison Program members Bev Griffin, David Johnson, Carol Rice and Lori Schmitt. Staff Members present: Jaime Mares and Gabe Serenyi. 1. Meeting was called to order by Rick Payne, Vice Chair, at 5:30 P.M. A motion to approve the minutes of the April 13, 1995 regular meeting was made by Shari Olson. The motion was seconded by Bob Lank, and approved by the HRC. II. Subcommittee Reports Committee on Executive Deleaation. Bob Lank reported that the CED had not met during the past month. Human Resource Grants Committee. Shari Olson informed the HRC that one of the Grants Committee members from Loveland was killed in an automobile accident recently. HRC members requested that a sympathy card be sent to her family on behalf of the HRC. Shari also reported that the Grants Committee is about to start the process of reviewing applications. Letters were sent to current funding recipients requesting that they submit proposals requesting grants for 1996. Organizations that had been turned down for grants in prior years were also sent letters requesting that they submit proposals. Police Subcommittee. Rick Payne reported that no meeting of the subcommittee had taken place because of the report to be presented by Citizens Liaison Program members at today's meeting. At this point Linda Beardsley arrived and assumed her role as Chair. Diversity Subcommittee. Rickie Calkins reported that the video produced by Poudre R-1 students dealing with the environment of City facilities and buildings had been sent to the Commission on Disability. Human Relations Commssion April 13, 1995 Page 2 Rickie also indicated that she had sent a letter to Rita Harris reiterating the HRC's request for the demographic makeup of the Boards and Commissions. Rita indicated that she would do so after the municipal elections. Linda Beardsley suggested to Rickie that she write a memo to the chair people of all the Boards and Commissions requesting that information so that we have baseline data of where Boards and Commissions are at the present. At this point a discussion took place between Mayor Azari and HRC members as to the best ways to recruit individuals from underrepresented groups to apply for positions on the Boards and Commissions. Rickie mentioned that an Arts in Public Places initiative was passed by voters. The initiative requires that 1 % of the cost of remodels and new construction of City facilities would be spent for placing works of art in those facilities. Mayor Azari suggested that the HRC send a letter to Mayor Pro-Tem Gina Janett indicating that diversity be a consideration when selecting works of art for City facilities. Human Relations Award Subcommittee. Shari Olson reported that the subcommittee was in the final stages of selecting the winners of the HRC awards. She and other subcommittee members had been impressed with the high quality of applicants this year. Shari also indicated that she had developed a new scoring sheet for evaluating applicants this year because the old sheets were cumbersome and did not accurately reflect the contributions the HRC was trying to identify. Shari indicated that 11 nominations were recived for the Adult award; 14 for the Senior award; 5 for the Organization award; and only one for the Youth award. HRC members were concerned that only one nomination had been made for the Youth award. The suggestion was made to send invitations to the HRC Awards breakfast to all members of the Youth Advisory Board to increase awareness of the HRC Awards among young people. Linda Beardsley invited Mayor Azari to be the speaker at the awards breakfast. The Mayor accepted. Different ideas were discussed to get media publicity for the awards breakfast. Mayor Azari suggested that Channel 14 be contacted to cover the event. Jaime Mares indicated that he would contact Mike Giddard to discuss that possibility. Ill. Old Business o A discussion took place about redoing the Human Relation Commission brochure and translating it into Spanish. Linda Beardsley requested that the Committee on Executive Delegation look into the matter. o Opportunity to discuss HRC issues with Mayor Azari. Mayor Azari announced that Council will be relooking at Boards and Commissions liaison assignments for Council members. If HRC members have any ideas as to who should be council liaison, they should send that information to the City Clerk's Office. Human Relations Commission April 13, 1995 Page 3 The Mayor also indicated that City Code outlining the operation of the Citizen's Liaison Program can be changed/updated. She also wanted to know if the HRC feels it has enough of an advisory role in dealing with Police Services (not in the sense of a Citizen review Board, but more of the role that the Electric Board has with the Electric Utility). Mayor Azari apologized for the little time she has had to devote to the HRC because of her numerous other responsibilities. She indicated that the best way to reach her is by phone if an HRC member needed to speak with her. HRC members stated, however, that they have been very pleased with the Mayor's participation in HRC activities and programs, and requested that she stay on as HRC liaison. Linda Beardsley asked if HRC members could be part of the interview process for new HRC members. She reported that Multi -Cultural Commission members had participated in the interview process for new members of that Commission, and felt that the process was successful. The Mayor indicated that she would check with other Council members to determine if that would be appropriate. IV. New Business Presentation/discussion about the Citizen's Liaison Program by members of the CLP. CLP members David Johnson, Lori Schmitt, Carol Rice and Bev Griffin introduced themselves to the HRC. David indicated that he would be the spokesperson for the group. He stated that CLP members had numerous complaints about the operation of the CLP, and the way the HRC has been handling the CLP: members feel underutilized; they have received little or no guidance from the HRC; there has been no marketing of the program; members have gotten no training to do their jobs; more people need to be signed -up and trained for the CLP; and that the HRC will not allow the CLP to formally organize. Linda Beardsley indicated that at the last meeting she attended with CLP members she had asked for ideas of how to better market the CLP and how to operate the CLP more effectively. She also reminded the CLP members that all of them had been trained at the start of the program, and that the CLP was never intended to be an organized group, but a group of individuals who would help residents with the Police complaint process. Lori Schmitt stated that the CLP was getting mixed messages. She felt that the group needs to be organized, and have a system of communicating and being able to share ideas and strategies. Linda Beardsley stated that the HRC needs to decide how the CLP should be organized. At the begining, the CLP was designed in such a way that people would work as individuals, not as a group. She suggested that now was a good time to re -think that approach. Rick Payne indicated that he was probably the source of the confusion, and apologized to CLP members. He stated that he was new on the HRC and the Police subcommittee, and may not have fully unsderstood the history and purpose of the CLP. He suggested that now is a good opportunity to get CLP back on track. Jaime Mares suggested that one possible approach would be to have the CLP work directly with Police Services, and get the HRC out of the loop. Human Relations Commission April 13, 1995 Page 4 Linda Beardsley requested that the Police Subcommittee review City Code dealing with the CLP, and come up with recommendations to the HRC for changes (if necessary) to the operation of the CLP. V. Announcements Bob Lank announced that there will be a Take Back the Night march by women on April 20th, to be followed by a men's rally at Old Town Square in support of the women. Ramona Robertson announced that the annual POW WOW would be held on the grounds of the Northside Aztlan Center on April 29 and 30. Rick Payne made a motion that Ann Azari should remain as HRC Council liason. Rickie Calkins seconded the motion. The motion was passed by the HRC. Rickie was asked to send a letter to the City Clerk's office stating the request. The meeting adjourned at 7:15 P.M.