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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuman Relations Commission - Minutes - 02/14/2002Liaison: Human Relations Commission CIC Room 300 W. Laporte Avenue February 14, 2002, 5:30-7:15 p.m. Phone: 493-5809 A regular meeting of the Human Relations Commission was held on February 14, 2002 in the Community Room, 215 N. Mason. HRC Members present Shion Hung, Mary Gomez, Ken Gordon, Jr, Bob Lenk, Man Oberoi, Parker Preble, Richard Miller HRC Members absent Rita Klepac and Ingrid Kolstoe /with notification Staff Members present: Angelina Powell, HRC Staff Liaison Call to Order. The meeting was called to order by Chairperson Bob Lenk at 5:40 p.m. Approval of Minutes. Chair Bob Lenk asked for a motion to approve the minutes of the regular meetings held on November 14, 2001, December 13, 2001 and January 10, 2002. Members helped with their recollection of information that was missing on the December 13 minutes relative to the youth basketball program on which Commission member Ingrid Kolstoe volunteers. Man Oberoi moved to approve the minutes of the November 14, 2001, December 13, 2001 and January 10, 2002 meetings. Parker Preble seconded the motion. The commission voted unanimously to approve. 111. Subcommittee Reports. Human Relations Award Subcommittee. Nomination requests will be sent to 260 agencies and individuals on February 15. Additionally, information relative to the award and the nomination deadline can be found on the city's web site ( www.fcgov.com/hra ) and the Fort Collins utility bill March insert. (NOTE: On 2/20, Dee Donaldson of Clear Channel Communications conducted a short interview on the awards and the nomination process for broadcast on their local radio stations.) The date of the awards breakfast has been set as Wednesday May 1 730-9 a.m. at the Lincoln Center Canyon West Room, 417 W. Magnolia. Please mark your calendars. Full commission participation would be wonderful. Diversity Subcommittee. Chair Mary Gomez reported the subcommittee met on January 23 to work on finalizing the 2001 Annual Report. Mary will be picking up data for the 2001 Board & Commission selection process and adding it to the data the subcommittee currently has on Excel worksheets. The next meeting is set for 5 p.m., Wednesday, February 27, 215 Spruce Hall on the CSU campus. Enter the building on the north end. Police Subcommitee. Subcommittee member Parker Preble reported on topics of interest raised at the January Citizen Review Committee meeting. Parker took a straw poll of the members in attendance about their interest in receiving regularly minutes for the CRB. To a person, every one agreed that it would be useful information. Angelina will work with CRB Staff Liaison Lt. Karen Carlson to make the information available for HRC members. Human Relations Commission Page 2 Angelina reported on her efforts to get a phone line. While exploring options she checked with Lt. Carlson with regard to protocol relative to the Citizen Liaison Program's interest in establishing a separate phone line for citizens interested in filing complaints. The information received during the discussion was useful and is shared below because it gives an overview and puts into perspective how the Citizen Liaison Program fits in relation to Fort Collins Police Internal Affairs and the Citizen Review Board. The Police Department Internal Affairs (PD1A) is the "first line" where citizens register complaints against Fort Collins Police or Community Service Officers. • The Citizen Liaison Program (CLP) under the purview of the HRC was developed as an adjunct to PD's Internal Affairs complaint system. It was established for situations when complainants sought third party help in filing complaints. • The CLP is not currently operational. While at one point, some citizens were trained to serve in this function there is no CLP program currently in place and ready. ❑ Training of each individual willing to participate in the CLP is required for participation. ❑ PDIA's perspective is the Citizen Liaison facilitates the process. Ideally, they participate with the complainant in filing the complaint directly with the PD ❑ The question of a telephone and publicity for the CLP will come after training is complete and some agreement is made with PDIA on how to most effectively establish a contact system for citizens. • The Citizen Review board is not the primary contact for citizens. In fact, its primary purpose is as an oversight of the complaints filed with Internal Affairs. The work the CRB has been doing most recently has been to make the citizens of Fort Collins more familiar with their role in the process. Commission members believed that we should move forward in making arrangements for training all interested HRC members as Citizen Liaisons so all the program is ready as needed for the benefit of citizens. IV. Old Business. Northern Colorado Multicultural Coro . Parker Preble reported on topics of interest raised at the January Northern Colorado Multicultural Corp meeting. V. New Business. Minority Group Outreach. Richard Miller raised the idea of Minority Group outreach. He believes that minority groups should be invited to HRC meetings. Ken Gordon shared the experience he had with other groups relative to minority group outreach. He believes the effort is worthwhile and should be at their location. The idea will be further explored... most likely at the Diversity Subcommittee level. VI. Announcements. Human Rights Office Multicultural Retreat will be held April 4th and 51, 2002 in Estes Park. The retreat helps community members improve cross-cultural awareness and develop skills to cultivate cooperation and effective relationships with people of diverse backgrounds. More information is available at www.fegov.com/humanridts DEADLINE for registration is March 1, 2002. (Space is limited.) • 11 Human Relations Commission Page 3 The Northern Colorado Multicultural Corp is sponsoring Power. Privilege & Prosperity, March 26, 8:30 am to 4 pm at the Lincoln Center. It's a day -long event dedicated to shared learning and experiences about diversity in our community. To register for the free event, call 491-6211 or email nncmc(a)lamar.colostate.edu. Please provide name, mailing address, phone number, business or organizational affiliation (if applicable), email address and inform them of any special need. VII. Adjournment. Shion Hung made a motion to adjourn. Ken Gordon seconded. The meeting was adjoined at 7:15 p.m.