Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuman Relations Commission - Minutes - 04/13/2006FORT COLLINS HUMAN RELATIONS COMMISSION Regular Meeting — April 13, 2006 5:30 p.m. IlCouncil Liaison: David Roy 11 Staff Liaison: Becky O'Donnell 11 11 Chairperson: Parker Preble 11 11 A regular meeting of the Human Relations Commission was held on Thursday, April 13, 2006 in the Council Information Office at 300 Laporte Avenue, Fort Collins, Colorado. BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT: Elaine Boni Caroline Tu Farley Joann Ginal Paige Backlund Jarquin Maryanne Ingratta Parker Preble Moin Siddiqui Jeffrey Van Fleet Lester Washington BOARD MEMBERS WITH EXCUSED ABSENCE: STAFF MEMBERS PRESENT: Rebecca O'Donnell, Staff Liaison Angelina Sanchez -Sprague, Recorder 1. CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order by Parker Preble at 5:30 p.m. 2. PUBLIC INPUT/INTRODUCTION OF NEW HRC MEMBER: Parker Preble introduced newest HRC member Jeffrey Van Fleet. Each individual introduced themselves and spoke of their committee(s) participation and liaison responsibilities. They asked Jeffrey to share his interest in serving on the Commission. 3. GUEST SPEAKER: None 4. AGENDA REVIEW 5. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Elaine Boni made a motion to approve the minutes of March 9, 2006 as revised. Moin Siddiqui seconded the motion. The motion passed. 6. OLD BUSINESS a. Meeting Reflections • Parker offered his services as a trained facilitator for the upcoming HRC retreat. Maryanne/Elaine/Joann thanked Parker for his offer and shared their • ORC April 13, 2006 — Page 2 impressions that if he had facilitator responsibilities he could not participate fully on topics and as a peer with other members. Maryanne asked about expenses related to taping the upcoming Human Relation Award Breakfast. Lester is working with Cable 14 staff and estimates the cost will be several hundred dollars. Maryanne believes the time has come to discontinue the awards breakfast in favor of distributing resources to other Commission endeavors. Parker posed the question: "to whom does the Commission speak?" He believes the Commission speaks to City Council and to the public not for City Council or the public. Parker referenced Paige's email relative to morale. Some Commissions believe there is a natural clique formation based on which other members you regularly interact. That causes some fracturing that takes away from one common vision. Maryanne believes that because of how responsibilities are met that little time is given to current topics such as immigration and other topics. The work plan should allow for digressing so that current topics that need immediate review and position formation can be addressed in a timely fashion. Some believe with the outcome of the Human Rights Protection Ordinance and their disappointment that it's time to engage in a new effort on a topic of interest and importance to the community. Parker reported he had spoken to Lloyd Spawn, a member of the Office on Aging Advisory Council, who asked about a HRC Liaison attending their monthly meeting the 2nd Thursdays from 1:30-3:30 p.m. at the Harmony Library. Elaine volunteered to attend their meetings. LIAISON REPORTS a. Northern Colorado Multicultural Commission (NCMC) Maryanne reported NCMC voted on membership applications they received. At their last meeting they had a presentation by Danielle North-DeCunto of the Language Exchange. The purpose of their group is to provide language and cultural opportunities to the community. b. NIOT Alliance. Caroline Tu Farley reported the Board met and discussed applying for non-profit status and charging for memberships to generate funds for operating expenses. Additionally, they discussed how to formulate plans on how to take action as needed through prevention and response teams. Volunteers would rotate every three months and would rely on several "listservs" to notify others of alleged incidents of discrimination and as needed request calls for action. c. Commission on the Status of Women. Joann has volunteered to act as the Liaison for the Commission on the Status of Women. Paige would be an alternate should Joann not be available. d. Latino Action Council. Marta Loachmin and Fernando Perdroza have stepped forward in leadership roles including working with the Council on developing a new work plan. Additionally Paige is working with First Call to add a cultural competency question on intake forms for community organizations. She is participating in Loveland's Cinco de Mayo celebrations and knows Rich Salas will again be involved with planning Cinco de Mayo festivities in Fort Collins. e. Interfaith Council. Moin reported eleven to twelve individuals participated with the Abramique (Judaism, Christianity & Islam), group in training on the practice of listening. The Interfaith Dialogue Group is studying the origins of religions such as Catholicism, Islam and others. f. ERACISM. Parker reported the Eracism Committee discussed how to raise money to rent films for the series this Fall including seeking contributions from 0 *C April 13, 2006 — Page 3 organizations that have contributed in the past such as the NCMC and Interfaith Council. 8. BUDGET REPORT. Becky reported of the $3,900 appropriated budget a balance of $2,694 remains with the bulk of it dedicated to expenses related to the upcoming Human Relations Award Breakfast. 9. COMMITTEE REPORTS a. Executive Delegation. • Parker thanked Maryanne for her layout and graphics work on the HRC brochure. Caroline wondered about the abbreviated names of committees on the brochures and suggested that the long form of the name be used. Commission members agreed. Other changes were recommended including the addition of newest HRC member Jeffrey Van Fleet. Maryanne will finalize the changes and send a final draft to Becky who will make sure 100 copies available for the Human Relations Award breakfast on May 2od b. Education & Community Outreach. • Joann reported the committee met to develop questions for the Community Chat scheduled for April 17—the Faces of Oppression. • Members of the committee attended the Mayor's "Open Mic with the Mayor" on March 27, 2006—the City's public outreach effort related to the creation of a City holiday display policy. Parker mentioned he had spoken to the Mayor requesting the HRC be a party to the deliberations in developing that policy. • Joann asked for time on the next HRC agenda when the Commission could explore future topics for Community Chats. Caroline to add to the May agenda. c. Government Relations • Elaine distributed copies of the cover letter to City Council in which the report, Comparative Analysis of the City of Fort Collins Boards & Commissions Diversity and Demographics for the years 2003-2005, will be transmitted. The letter notes that a significant number of minority candidates are appointed. It encourages City Council to continue in their efforts to recruit applications by distributing applications in a number of places used by minorities. Further it requests a change —the analysis is done every five years and that the data is compiled by City employees with the results analyzed by the HRC. • Elaine spoke with David Pearson, Police Services Internal Affairs. Police complaint forms will be available on-line to be downloaded. However clients will not be able to file a complaint on-line. The Spanish translation arranged by the HRC has been put on hold, because the form is being revised. • Elaine visited the Greeley HRC at its April meeting. She'll continue with her plans to visit other Human Relations Commissions meetings. • Elaine in doing research on the web discovered on the National League of Cities website a report on how a community could effectively work with issues related of diversity. She'll share that link with other members. She asks they review the materials and at some point (maybe the upcoming retreat) be prepared to compare/contrast the report to the work the HRC is or should be doing. 0 *RC April 13, 2006 — Page 4 Media & Community Recognition • Lester's reported on progress made in the planning of the Human Relations Award (HRA) Breakfast including the review of applications/selection of the 2006 award winners by category. Their selection will remain confidential until the breakfast when they'll be named. • Lester, working with Caroline, Parker, and Becky, will complete plans for plaques, programs and logistics the day of the event. In fact, the nominations were distributed to Commission members. They were asked to prepare short biographies for the nominees to be used by them during the program and as a part of a press packet. • Further, he asked Commission members to plan on arriving at 7 a.m. to complete tasks and to welcome guests for a start time for the breakfast of 7:30 a.m. • A motion made by Elaine, seconded by Joann and approved by all to accept page's Soap Box newspaper article for print. • Lester asked Parker to leave the meeting and posed the question to the Commission —would they support the presentation by Council Liaison David Roy of a plaque to Parker and his wife Mabel (former Mayor of Fort Collins) for their work in promoting diversity in our community. Maryanne made a motion to order a plaque honoring their work and presenting it at the breakfast. Lester seconded the motion. All in favor • Maryanne asked who was responsible for the next Coloradoan article. Joann offered to write an article on Pride in the Park to be submitted to the Commission for their review prior to the May meeting. NEW BUSINESS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS b. Pride in the Park • Maryanne asked for a Commission presence and support of Pride in the Park set Saturday, June 171" in Justice Park (corner of Howes & Laporte.) That participation would require using the HRC banner at a booth staffed by Commission members. HRC brochures would be available for distribution. Lester made a motion for the Commission to support/participate in Pride in the Park. Maryanne seconded. All in favor b. HB 06-1244 • Joann called for an action alert on HB 06-1344, Colorado Domestic Partner Benefits and Responsibilities Act. Angie Paccione's website is info(cDangie2006.com and gives gates and times when she will be in the Fort Collins area. Joann asked if and how the Commission would like to approach the issue. c. CSU Diversity Conference • Maryanne expressed her disappointment that the HRC would not be participating at the CSU Diversity Conference to be held later this year. Her impression was the requirements were to provide a speaker or participate in a forum on a diversity topic. Lester advised that there still may be opportunity — they'd need to make contact (in a sooner rather than later timeframe) with the organizers at CSU. Maryanne & Lester agreed to work together to sketch out a proposal. A potential topic recommended by Elaine Boni is "Working Toward an Inclusive Community." Lester stated that in the future these proposals can be handled via email if time is a factor. E 4kRC April 13, 2006 —Page 5 d. Grant Applications Becky heard from the City Manager and City Attorney's office regarding the HRC request to solicit fundraising through grant writing and/or seeking donations and sponsorships to augment the funding available to further carry out their duties and functions under the City code. Although there is no legal impediment to authorizing fundraising by City board and commissions, they recommend that no fundraising, grant writing, donation or sponsorships occur. Concerns include administration issues, funds disbursement, and liability concerns. It is recommended the HRC continue to advise the Council and City Manager about their financial needs and to look for and recommend less expensive program alternatives or recommend ways in which the City might raise additional revenues to help meet those needs. e. Special Meeting/"Retreat" • The Education & Outreach Committee support the idea of a scheduling a special meeting outside the normal place and time of a regular HRC meeting. They also recommend the use of an "outside" facilitator to explore HRC issues and check the direction the Commission is moving. Some reasons they support that forum are: • Check in as individuals/team—work together on a common vision • Check the direction the commission is moving. Does it allow for review/action "meaty" issues that arise outside those already on the work plan? • Joann volunteered the use of her home. • Alma Vigo -Morales (former City Human Rights Officer) has agreed to act as the facilitator • Maryanne suggested Alma help in the development of a draft agenda that could be reviewed and approved by the Commission. Would it be alright to proceed with planning? Maryanne made a motion to proceed with planning. Moin seconded the motion. All in favor. The meetin adjourned at 8:00 p.m. Parker Preble, Chairperson Z�VC4&A-_ ebecca O'Donnel Staff Liaison