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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuman Relations Commission - Minutes - 09/14/2023 HUMAN RELATIONS COMMISSION REGULAR MEETING Thursday, September 14, 2023 – 5:30 PM City Hall, CIC Conference Room; 300 Laporte Ave 1. CALL TO ORDER: 5:33 PM 2. ROLL CALL  Board Members Present – Beth Jaeger, Coronda Ziegler, Teresa Cribelli, Phil Walker, Masood Ahmad, Kyle Teramoto  Board Members Absent – Barb Kistler, Miho Yoshioka  Staff Members Present – Claudia Menendez, Equity Officer, Rupa Venkatesh, Assistant City Manager, Melanie Clark, Executive Assistant  Guest(s) – 3. AGENDA REVIEW 4. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Commission member, Teresa Cribelli motioned to approve the minutes from the August 10, 2023, meeting. Commission Chair, Beth Jaeger second the motion. Motion passed 6-0. 5. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION: 6. BUDGET REVIEW There was $6,100 allocated to HRC for the year. As of August 15, there was about $4350, left in the budget. $1500 will be allocated to each of the upcoming events: Unmasking Microaggressions training, DEI Networking event, and the HRC awards ceremony. HRC is on track to use the remaining budget by the end of the year. 7. NEW BUSINESS  WELCOME NEW MEMBER: KEVIN GOFF Kevin introduced himself and provided information about his background and what brough him and his family to Fort Collins. Commission members introduced themselves and welcomed Kevin.  DISCUSSION RE: CITY OF FORT COLLINS EQUITY PLAN: CLAUDIA MENENDEZ Commission Chair, Beth Jaeger thanked Claudia for her willingness to present the equity plan to the Commission. She noted the timeliness of the presentation as the Commission will be updating their 2024 Work Plan over the next couple of months and encouraged Commission members to keep this in mind as those discussions come up in October and November. Claudia Menendez, Equity Officer shared from the Equity Plan that the Equity & Inclusion office dedicates time and resources on internal staff development and relationships as well as community trust building. The City must focus internally first and ensure they create an inclusive workplace that fosters a culture of belonging for all employees. The City’s commitment to the belonging, safety, and well-being of all employees also reflects on our work with community groups. Our efforts are inclusive of all identities across the organization and Fort Collins community. An Equity Plan can put a theory of change into action to achieve a collective vision of racial social equity. The goal is for institutional and structural change, as opposed to a plan. This requires local governments to change their policies, the way they do business, habits, and culture. Claudia stated that it is important that people understand that this is complex work and pointing out the discomfort and difficult conversations is important. She explained equity work is about pointing out the disparities and identifying who is most marginalized and disproportionately disadvantaged and being fully aware of it and being able and willing to do something about it. One of the first projects Claudia adopted was updating the City’s Mission, Vision and Values. This is an internal document that drives the City’s work ethic. It is a reminder of how they treat each other, but also how they center the work for the community. Belonging was a new Value that was added during the update. This is what happens when you have diversity, equity and inclusion all taking place and this is what they are striving for. The City’s Strategic Plan is divided into seven parts: Neighborhood Livability & Social Health, Culture & Recreation, Economic Health, Environmental Health, Safe Community, Transportation & Mobility, and High Performing Government. Claudia shared that the City is heading into Strategic Planning and Budgeting season. Coming up there will be a three-part series discussing what these Strategic Outcome areas mean to the community. The discussions will occur on September 28th from, October 11th, and October 25th. All will take place from 5:30 – 8:00 p.m. at the Senior Center. She explained that the Strategic Plan is tied to the City’s budgeting process. Commission member, Masood Ahmad had a question about what percentage of the budget is expected to be allocated to DEI work. Claudia explained there is a budget allocated to the Equity office, but there are also other projects that could be doing equity work that are not within the Equity Office, so it could be difficult to get a precise number, but she will try to get some information. Commission Chair, Beth Jaeger asked how the Equity Indicators will be used to inform the Strategic Plan and budgeting discussions. Claudia explained that there are three goals: Commitment & Common Language in the Workplace, Inclusive & Equitable Engagement, and Data and Accountability. Under each goal there are many specific activities. Claudia further explained under Data Accountability is where they would look at things such as Equity Indicators and a lot of other things. The first goal of the Equity Plan is Commitment & Common Language in the Workplace. This is where the City is still norming how they operate. At the end of the plan there are a couple definitions that help point folks in the right direction. Part of what they are trying to operationalize and systematize is making sure people are using the definitions in the same way. Claudia provided an example where folks were using the terms “underrepresented groups” and “underserved groups” interchangeably, but they have very different meanings. This was a great example of where we need to be using the language the same way so there is a common understanding. The second goal is Inclusive & Equitable Engagement. This is a hot topic. Claudia explained Fort Collins has a near 13% Hispanic/Latino community, but this doesn’t mean that everyone is monolingual Spanish speaking. There is a good portion of this population that speaks English less than well. How we communicate and outreach to that community needs to be thought through differently. The same is true for the Black, Asian, and all other communities. This part of the maturity that the City is doing in their thinking when they start to understand how they are engaging the community. This is foundational for local government operations, but especially for building trust with the diversity of people and groups that make up our community. HRC is mentioned in this goal. Part of Inclusive and targeted engagement is the way we are interacting with already existing groups whether this is in the community or with the City’s Boards and Commissions. Commission Chair, Beth Jaeger noted that in the 2024 Mid-Term Outcomes it states DAB and HRC events build sense of belonging and inclusion for marginalized community groups. She asked how this is measured. Assistant City Manager, Rupa Venkatesh explained the Community Survey is sent out by the City every year. There has been significant increase in sense of belonging, which is a question asked on the survey. Commission member, Teresa Cribelli asked how the survey is distributed. It is a random sample of households who receive postcards. Claudia stated that equity work is about people, which is not an easy metric to measure. Creating a friendship and trust takes time. Commission member, Coronda Ziegler wondered if there were any micro measures the City is tracking. Claudia stated that data accountability if the goal. Part of the work is about increasing the level of sensitivity and awareness. Often it is by asking questions. Claudia encouraged Commission members to spend time on the list of questions around demographics and communication considerations to see what it brings to mind for them individually. Commission Chair, Beth Jaeger suggested Commisssion members read through the Equity Plan more carefully and to keep it in mind as they discuss the 2024 Work Plan.  UPDATE RE: DEI NETWORKING EVENT – OCTOBER 22ND The networking event dovetails into the CSU Symposium. Considering a speed dating style of event. The idea is to be able to connect with as many people as possible (individually) in a short time frame. The purpose of the event is to bring together DEI practitioners so they can meet each other, but also so that a directory can built. Melanie Clark, Executive Admin Assistant shared the Senior Center was reserved for the evet. It was requested to look into the Museum, and it was available and a bit cheaper than the Senior Center, by about $100. Commission Chair, Beth Jaeger wanted to wait for Barb Kistler’s return before making a final decision on the space. 8. OLD BUSINESS  COMMISSION REPORTS: o EDUCATION OUTREACH – UPDATE RE: “UNMASKING MICROAGRESSIONS” PROGRAM – OCTOBER 5TH Commission member, Coronda Ziegler asked for an update on registrations. Melanie Clark stated that there were probably 50 or more based on the last report she received. She will update Coronda when she receives the next report. Commission members discussed further advertising for the event and suggested posting flyers in different locations. As well, an invitation was sent to about 500 different emails. Further discussions about advertising for the event will take place after getting an updated list of registrations. o MEDIA/COMMUNITY RECOGNITION COMMITTEE – UPDATE RE: 2023 HUMAN RELATION AWARDS PROGRAM Commission member, Beth Jaeger stated that nomination forms are provided in English and Spanish. She encouraged Commission members to share information about the award ceremony with others in their circles and encourage folks to nominate. All nominations will be due on October 23rd. Beth and Kyle Teramoto will work with the awards committee to get the draft program completed. As well, they decided to include the Human Rights Day proclamation in the flow of the awards ceremony. Kyle was asked to create a spreadsheet of the nominations as they come in to provide to the Commission. Everyone who is nominated will be recognized and invited at the ceremony as well as the individuals who nominated them. Coronda asked how word gets out about HRC events. Melanie explained the HRC email list as well as being able to post on social media, advertising on the City’s main webpage as well as the Equity Office webpage. Beth will bring a flyer to the Microaggressions training to advertise the awards ceremony. o GOVERNMENT RELATIONS o EXECUTIVE – UPDATES RE: BOARDS & COMMISSIONS MEMBERSHIP TERMS; NATIONAL DISABILITY EMPLOYMENT AWARENESS MONTH; HRC 2024 WORK PLAN DUE NOVEMBER 30TH 9. ANNOUNCEMENTS Maya Drum reached out to HRC to request their support for the Diwali celebration. She has been trying for a while to gain support for the event and has been unsuccessful. Beth noted that Maia once served on HRC. Commission members discussed Diwali and learned that it is India’s biggest and most important holiday of the year. It is a festival of lights that celebrates the triumph of light over darkness, good over evil, and the human ability to overcome. It is a national India festival and is one of the major festivals. Maya is requesting there be a Diwali lamp lighting ceremony in Old Town Square on November 4, which is the same day and time as the holiday lighting ceremony. She is proposing is to commemorate Diwali with a short introduction and how it is for everyone, lighting of a brass lamp, moment of silence and then the Downtown lighting events to proceed afterward. HRC will write a memo to City Council in support of the event and to bring attention to the celebration. Phil Walker made a motion to have a memo sent to council to support the event. Coronda second the motion. The motion passed 6-0. Melanie provided an update to Commission members about term extensions. All Boards and Commission members are being extended by 3 months due to the shift in elections being moved to November. Rupa Venkatesh shared information about Ex Officio member. She requested HRC to discuss whether they have a need for one and if so, who that organization would be. Rupa shared that Council approved the Women’s Advisory Board to be rescoped to the Women and Gender Equity Board. Teresa Cribelli stated that she is waiting for a response from DAB Chair and Co- Chair for a response on the National Disability Employment Awareness Month proclamation. Melanie will reach out to them to see where they are. Beth Jaeger asked Commission members to take a look at the 2023 Work Plan to see what they want to add, delete or refocus for 2024. Claudia shared that on October 9th they will be celebrating Indigenous People’s Day where they will be gathering at a mural in Front Range Village. This is a community event. As well, on October 14th there will be a community event at the Gardens on Spring Creek celebration Hispanic Heritage Month. Melanie will send information to Commission members regarding the City’s Strategic Plan and Outcomes where feedback is being requested. Beth stated they will discuss this at the October meeting. Melanie will also send an email to Commission members with guidelines around election activities. Teresa Cribelli was wondering how soon a proclamation or request for one would need to be submitted for Autism Awareness month. There is time for work on this as it would not happen until 2024. 10. NEXT STEPS  MEETING ACTION ITEMS  NEXT MEETING – OCTOBER 12, 2023 – AGENDA IDEAS? Ex-Officio member needs 2024 Work Plan Discussion on the City’s 2024 Strategic Plan 11. ADJOURNMENT  7:37 p.m. Minutes approved by the Chair and a vote of the Board/Commission on 10/12/23 09/14/23– MINUTES Page 1