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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuman Relations Commission - Minutes - 08/13/1998HUMAN RELATIONS COMMISSION MINUTES Regular Meeting - August 13, 1998 Human Resources Conference Room, 200 W. Mountain Ave. 5:30 - 7:00 p.m. Council Liaison: Ann Azari Chairperson: Bob Lank Phone: 493-5809 A regular meeting of the Human Relations Commission was held on August 13, 1998 in the Human Resources Conference Room, 200 W. Mountain Ave. HRC Members present: Viviane Abt, Judy Berg, Brian Carroll, Leslie Frantz, LaMills Garrett, Joe Jaramillo, Bob Lenk, and Man Oberoi. HRC Member absent: Lori Lenard. Guests present: Mayor Ann Azari, Ed Gibbs and Joe Salazar, Colorado Civil Rights Commission (Northern Colorado Office), Sam Szymanski and Shari Lane, Larimer County, and Bobbie Gonzales and Bob Viscount, Multicultural Commission. Staff Members present: Gabe Serenyi, HRC Staff Liaison Laurie Fonken-Joseph, Human Rights Officer Greg Tempel, Assistant City Attorney Sgt. Karen Carlson, Fort Collins Police Services f. Meeting was called to order by Bob Lank, Chair, at 5:37 p.m. II. Several special guests were in attendance and introduced: Mayor Ann Azari, Ed Gibbs and Joe Salazar from the Northern Colorado office of the Colorado Civil Rights Commission, Sam Szymanski from Larimer County, and Shari Lane from the Larimer County Sheriff's Department. Mayor Azari asked commission members how everything was going. Bob Lank responded that the commission was going through a transition period with the recent completion of work on the Human Rights Ordinance and the Police Review Board Ordinance. He indicated that the HRC has been happy with Council's response to these ordinances, and their willingness to address difficult and controversial issues. Bob also commented that the HRC has been pleased with Chief Harrison's decision to send police complaint cases to be reviewed by the Police Subcommittee that would normally not require the subcommittee's input. Ed Gibbs informed commission members about an open forum meeting that is being sponsored by the Colorado Civil Rights Commission (CCRC)• The purpose of these forums is to give individual citizens the opportunity to speak about their personal experiences with discrimination, and relate these experiences to the CCRC. The forum is not a panel discussion, but an "open microphone" on discrimination. The event will take place on September 24th in Greeley at the Ramkota Inn, 701 8th Street, and will start at 7 p.m. Ed encouraged HRC members to pass on this information to others. Human Relations Commission August 13, 1998 Page 2 Judy Berg asked what the CCRC will do with the information it receives from citizens. Ed indicated that citizens who have valid complaints of discrimination will be encouraged to file complaints with the CCRC, or other appropriate agencies. Greg Tempel inquired if the CCRC is interested in hearing complaints based on discrimination because of sexual orientation. Ed responded that discrimination based on sexual orientation is not a basis of discrimination protected by Colorado law; consequently, the CCRC would not have jurisdiction. Ed Gibbs was asked how many complaints are filed with his office each year. Ed indicated that his office averages about 160 complaints. About 50% are referred to initial resolution conferences, and about 30 - 40% of those are resolved, meaning that the case is either settled, the complainant withdraws his/her case, or a right to sue letter is issued. The other 50% are dismissed with a finding of no probable cause. III. Bob Lank asked for a motion to approve the minutes of the July 9, 1998 meeting. Viviane Abt made the motion to approve, and was seconded by Judy Berg. The minutes were approved by the HRC with no changes. IV. Subcommittee Reports Commqttep on Fxacutive D I gation. Bob Lank reported that the CED did not meet. Bob also noted that since the Council has approved the Police Review Board, the CED should start working on revising the HRC bylaws. Human Resource Grantc Committee. Sam Szymanski briefed the group about the current status of the Grants Committee. She indicated that the program until this year was funded by grants from the cities of Fort Collins and Loveland as well as Larimer County. Loveland, however, has elected to pull out. She also noted that the Fort Collins City Council and the Larimer County Commissioners had recently approved a plan to merge the activities of the Grants Committee and the United Way. The Grants Committee, however, will operate as in the past for the time being. Beginning September 1, 1998 the United Way will take over the administration of the Grants Committee. The merger will really benefit the agencies because they will not have to submit separate applications for funding to both the United Way and the Grants Committee. There also will be a saving of $26,000 by merging the two operations. This saving will be passed on to the participating agencies as additional funding. Sam also spoke about the responsibilities and time commitment required for participation on the Grants Committee. Since the City contributes $380,000 per year to this program, committee members have a significant say in how this money is spent. Since Loveland withdrew from participation, the HRC will be asked to provide four instead of three members to the committee. Police hr.ommitt Brian Carroll commented that an ad had appeared in the Coloradoan soliciting applications for the Police Review Board. He encouraged interested HRC members to apply. Man Oberoi inquired if a citizen can serve both on the HRC and the new Police Review Board. Bob Lenk responded that citizens can serve only on one board or commission at a time. Earlier during tonight's meeting Assistant City Attorney Greg Tempel had noted that the HRC Police Subcommittee would continue to review police complaint cases until the Police Review Board had been selected and trained. That process will take approximately 90 days. Human Relations Commission August 13, 1998 Page 3 Sgt. Karen Carlson reported that the newly developed police complaint forms are now available at the Police Department, and will soon be available at the Library (both branches) and the Human Rights Office. Brian Carroll announced that the subcommittee will meet later during the month and define the role of the subcommittee in light of the establishment of the Police Review Board. Diversity. Leslie Frantz reported that Tom and Jean Sutherland had accepted the invitation to be the guest speakers at the 50th Anniversary Celebration of the Declaration of Human Rights. The event has been scheduled at the Lincoln Center on December 10th. The committee is now working on a major effort to publicize the event. Also, other activities related to the celebration have been scheduled for each of the months prior to the celebration. Multicultural Commission. Bob Viscount reported that the commission had recently held elections, and he had been elected chair. Barbara Nessen (sp?) from FRCC will be co-chair, and Larry Trautwein of the Chamber of Commerce will be the treasurer. The commission is planning a retreat for early September which will give commission members and the liaison committee an opportunity to work out some of the functional problems that have existed in the past. The commission does not have a budget at this time and one of the objectives of a summit meeting to be held in October will be to get commitments from the sponsoring organizations to provide funding to support the activities of the commission. As reported last month, the commission is also working with the group that is promoting the ERACISM bumper stickers. The County has agreed to place the stickers on County vehicles. The hope is that the City will do the same. V. Old Business Brainstorming activity: What do we if the Human Rights Ordinance does not pass? Bob Lenk reported that after the vote on Amendment 2 the Mayor had invited residents to participate in a healing process. This gave both sides an opportunity to speak to each other. Something similar would be a possibility following the elections in November. A discussion took place at this point about different ways to promote the healing process following the elections. Bob Lank volunteered to send a letter to Council Health and Safety Committee to inform them that the HRC is discussing and considering various options, and possibly soliciting ideas and guidance from them. VI. New Business None Human Relations Commission August 13, 1998 Page 4 VII. Announcements Laurie Fonken-Joseph announced that the National Association of Human Rights Workers will hold its annual conference in Denver from October 20th to the 25th. She distributed registration forms for the conference, and spoke about some of the programs and workshops. • Gabe Serenyi announced that the October and November meetings of the HRC will be held at the Human Rights Office conference room at 405 Canyon. Our regular meeting place will be used for computer training during those months. • Bob Lank reminded members that elections for HRC officers and appointments to subcommittees will be held during the regular September meeting. The meeting adjourned at 7:10 p.m.