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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuman Relations Commission - Minutes - 09/11/2003Human Relations Commission Minutes September 11, 2003 5:30 — 7:30 p.m. Council Liaison: David Roy Staff Liaison: Angelina Powell Phone V: 407-7393 Phone: 221-6525 Chairperson: Ken Gordon Phone: 217-6317 Vice Chairperson: Mary Gomez Phone: 491-3702 A regular meeting of the Human Relations Commission was held on September 11, 2003 in the CIC Room, 300 W. LaPorte Avenue. HRC Members present Elaine Boni, Kimberly Clouser, John Coleman, Mary Gomez, Ken Gordon, Jr., Rita Klepac, Erik Rush HRC Members absent Parker Preble & Christina Serrano /with notification Staff Members present Angelina Powell, Staff Liaison I. Call to Order. The meeting was officially called to order by Chair Ken Gordon, Jr. at 5:45 p.m. II. Approval of Minutes. Kimberly Clouser made the motion to approve the minutes as submitted for the August 14, 2003 meeting. Erik Rush seconded the motion. All voted in favor of accepting the minutes as submitted. III. Subcommittee Reports. Reporting Process Instructions. Chair Ken Gordon asked Subcommittee Chairs when reporting subcommittee progress that it be compared against their work plan. Human Relations Award Subcommittee. There was no meeting in July. Meeting will be scheduled in August. Diversity Subcommittee There was no meeting in July. At the request of current subcommittee members, Erik will be exploring a day other than Wednesday for the subcommittee meeting. Police Subcommittee. No report. Executive Delegation Subcommittee: Reviewed the 2003 Work Plan (including providing orientation for new members in January 2004, work on Human Relations topics that arise in 2003, improve two-way communication with citizens, reassess vision and mission of the Human Relations Commission and provide support for Subcommittee work.) Chair Ken Gordon, Jr. welcomed Elaine Boni to her first regular (HRC) meeting. Elaine has been participating at the Diversity Subcommittee level. She'd been a member of the HRC in the mid- 70s for about three years and resigned to participate as a Fullbright Scholar in Canada. Elaine has been a physical therapist and an elementary teacher. (She is currently retired.) She taught at Dunn Elementary where there's a large array of ethnic backgrounds (mostly children of international students at CSU.) She has an understanding and appreciation for diversity and looks forward to serving on the community on the HRC. 4 Human Relations Commission Page 2 IV. Liaison Reports Northern Colorado Multicultural Corp. No report. Eracism Film Series. Rita Klepac provided background information for new member Elaine Boni on the film series, which is in its 3`d year. V. Budget Report. There's an available balance of $303.29 before August meeting expense postings. VI. Old Business. Institute for Healing Racism. Jack Coleman offered additional handouts —Racial Healing, the Institutes for the Healing of Racism and Appendix --Establishing an Institute for the Healing of Racism. Some members would like to have the opportunity to discuss the topic with individuals that could share their experience and impression (maybe individuals from the Denver area) before they make their decision to support the proposal. Also, there is some concern that the target population would be "preaching to the choir." Chair Gordon suggests that if we cannot bring closure to the proposal by the October meeting, that the topic be tabled until the 2004 Work Plan. Business Card Distribution/Neighborhood Walks Starting in September and every month thereafter, Chair Gordon would like Commissioners to schedule one weekend each month to visit neighborhoods such as Buckingham, Andersonville and Poudre Valley Mobile Home Park to distribute information relative to the services provided by the Human Relations Commission. He recommends the visits are in groups of 3 or more. Ideally a Spanish speaker can accompany each group. Boards & Commissions Diversity/Demographic Data Diversity Subcommittee Chair Erik Rush reviewed a report of board & commission diversity data in comparison with Census data. No glaring parity issues were easily discerned. The commission offered feedback that the information needs to be in a useful report form for City Council. Chair Gordon suggests that by the October meeting the what, why and what's next be easily understood. In fact, outlining Commission's recommendations relative to how to enhance the current system to attract and appoint the appropriate representative percentage of minority members to Boards & Commissions. Brochure Update. Ken Gordon, Jack Coleman, Rita Klepac, Kimberly Clouser were not able to meet in July. They would like to complete work on the brochure before the end of the year. It's completion would also be useful, especially because a Spanish version is also considered, to have available for neighborhood walks. VII. New Business. 2004 New Member Orientation. Vice Chair Mary Gomez will plan new member orientation for January, 2004. Position Announcement. Discussion tabled to a time when Parker Preble is present.. Poudre School District Involvement Chair Gordon was approached by a friend of a Poudre School Board Member to explore an initiative to bring more diversity to the school district at a management level. Their hope is the school board would invite supporters to participate in an initiative that would be sensitive to diversity. Human Relations Commission Page 3 VIII. Announcements Face to Face. Ken & Parker attended the last Face to Face (F2F) meeting (I" Tuesdays, 8:30 a.m., 215 N. Mason Community Room.) F2F is a grass roots group of individuals interested in promoting programs that enhance appreciation and respect for diverse populations. It's Ken's intention to attend all their meetings. In fact, he invited others to participate and Elaine Boni has expressed an interest in attending their meetings. They will be send representatives in the near future to one of the HRC meetings to better understand how our work plan addresses areas of common interest. Make a Difference Day is October 24 and 25. Register at http://www.firsteall- vc.orv,/makeadifference/ Race and Ethnicity Discussion Series at Oak Street Cafe (by Jays) at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday and Friday (note: dates not noted.) More information available at the City's Human Rights office, 221-6871. Hispanic Heritage Month information (October) & Applications for Youth Multicultural Retreat (October 18-20) are available at http•//,Nww.fcgov.com/humanrights/ School Board Candidate. A school board candidate has the belief that African Americans have a lower IQ than Caucasians and intends to write a soapbox for the Coloradoan on that topic. Look for its' publication. Should the Commission expect to write a response to his premises, resource contacts on the topic are Blaine Harding at CSU or Ernie Chavez. The Exercise & Enforcement of Civil Rights Post 9/11. The Denver Federal Executive Board is sponsoring a conference October 9 & 10 in Denver. Visit www.denver.feb.gov or www.dora.state.co.us/eivil-rights for more information. IX. Adjournment. Kimberly Clouser made a motion to adjourn. Rita Klepac seconded the motion. The meeting was adjourned at 7:35 p.m. The next HRC meeting will be October 9, 2003, 5:30 p.m. in the CIC Room, 300 W. LaPorte Avenue. Approved: ORv Ken Gordon, Jr. Chair elina Powell, Staff Liaison