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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuman Relations Commission - Minutes - 04/09/1998HUMAN RELATIONS COMMISSION MINUTES Regular Meeting - April 9, 1998 Human Resources Conference Room, 200 W. Mountain Ave. 5:30 - 7:00 p.m. Ann Azari I Staff Liaison: Gabe Chairperson: Bob Lank Phone: 493-5809 A regular meeting of the Human Relations Commission was held on April 9, 1998 in the Human Resources Conference Room, 200 W. Mountain Ave. HRC Members present: Viviane Abt, Brian Carroll, Joe Jaramillo, Lori Lenard, Bob Lenk, and Man Oberoi. HRC Members absent: Judy Berg and Leslie Frantz. Guest present: Lu Fisk, Commission on the Status of Women Staff Members present: Gabe Serenyi, HRC Staff Liaison Greg Tempel, Assistant City Attorney Sgt. Karen Carlson, Fort Collins Police Services Laurie Fonken-Joseph, Human Rights Officer I. Meeting was called to order by Bob Lank, Chair, at 5:37 p.m. II. Bob Lank asked for a motion to approve the minutes of the March 12, 1998 meeting. Lori Lenard made the motion to approve, and was seconded by Man Oberoi. The minutes were approved by the HRC with no changes. III. Subcommittee Reports Human Resource Grants Committee. Lori Lenard reported that the functions of the Grants Committee will definitely be transferred to the United Way. She was not certain if or how current members would be integrated into the United Way system. Diversity. Did not meet during the past month. Human Relations Award. Viviane Abt reported that she was still trying to arrange for a speaker for the awards breakfast. No one has committed yet, but several strong possibilities have surfaced, including Glenn Levy and Tess Heffernan. Police Suhrnmmittep. Brian Carroll discussed the City/County School Resource Officer Program agreement with the school district. Brian indicated that he had reviewed the agreement, and could not find any reference to any notification of parents procedure. Brian suggested that the HRC do its homework re this issue before inviting anyone from either Police Services or Poudre R-1 to talk about Human Relations Commission April 9, 1998 Page 2 the program, as had been suggested by Lt. Brad Hurst at last month's meeting. The agreement needs to be clearer about the role of police officers, school administrators and parents once an adversarial contact is made with a student. Lori Lenard indicated that the procedure needs to be communicated to parents so that they understand what everyone's role is. Sgt. Karen Carlson volunteered to contact the police officer in charge of the School Resource Officer Program and find out if there are existing guidelines in place. Brian reported that the subcommittee had reviewed the draft Police Review Board ordinance at its last meeting. The group agreed that the absence of subpena powers and investigative resources would not be detrimental to the effectiveness of the board, or deter it from performing its mission. Another issue that was discussed by the subcommittee was the perceived independence of the board from City management. There was some concern about the role the City Manager played in the selection of board members, and the general operation of the board. One of the key issues yet to be resolved is how board members are appointed. Option 1 would allow the City Manager and two Council members to submit to the full Council a slate of candidates. Option 2 would allow Council members to select board members without input from the City Manager. The subcommittee is recommending that Option 1 be adopted. A discussion also took place about a provision in the ordinance about Council's ability to remove board members with or without cause. Greg Tempel reminded HRC members that the City charter gives Council the power to remove members from any board or commission with or without cause. Bob Lank reported on a discussion he had with Council member Chris Kneeland about some of the topics discussed above. She was a main proponent of Option 2 which would give Council full control over the appointment of board members without the involvement of the City Manager. Chris feels that adopting Option 2 would help maintain the independence of the board, and diffuse criticism that the City Manager would have undue influence over the board. Bob Lank asked HRC members if anyone wanted to make a motion in support of Brian's recommendations regarding the Police Review Board. Brian Carroll made the motion that the recommendation be adopted in its entirety. Lori Lenard seconded the motion. Bob Lank proposed an amendment to the motion that would support Option 2 for selecting board members. Bob moved to amend Brian's original motion. Viviane Abt seconded the motion. A vote was taken on the amendment. 2 votes were in favor of the amendment; four votes were against the amendment. The amendment failed. A vote was then taken on Brian Carroll's original motion to support all the provisions of Brain's recommendations to Council. The motion passed with a vote of 6 - 0. Brian Carroll reported that the subcommittee is currently reviewing another police complaint case. Chief Harrison had sent the subcommittee a memo thanking them for their review and recommendations dealing with a previous case. The Chief also indicated that the department is changing its internal review procedures that would result in expediting the police review process in the future. Committee on FxecutEve Delegation. The CED did not meet during the past month. CED members, however, have been following the progress of the Human Rights Ordinance, and petitions that have Human Relations Commission April 9, 1998 Page 3 been submitted to repeal it. Mayor Azari had indicated to Bob that it appeared that there were enough signatures on the petitions to require Council to take action. Bob asked Greg Tempel what process would be followed to re -instate the previous ordinance if the petition signatures were certified to be adequate. Greg indicated that an ordinance would be drafted and presented to Council to re -instate the previous Human Rights ordinance. A discussion took place at this point regarding the HRC's role during the forthcoming debate about the revised Human Rights ordinance. Different options were discussed, including holding public forums, organizing debates, obtaining invitations to make presentations to various groups, such as Rotary, etc. A discussion took place regarding what, if any, action the HRC should take at this point. A motion was made by Viviane Abt to send Council a recommendation that the revised Human Rights ordinance not be repealed. The motion included a recommendation that the referendum about the ordinance be placed on the November, 1998 ballot instead of the spring, 1999 ballot. Lori Lenard seconded the motion. A vote was taken, and the motion passed 5 - 0. Bob Lank volunteered to draft a memo to Council with the HRC's recommendations. IV. Old Business None V. New Business None VI. Announcements None The meeting adjourned at 7:07 p.m.