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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuman Relations Commission - Minutes - 02/09/1995• 11 HUMAN RELATIONS COMMISSION MINUTES Regular Meeting - February 9, 1995 Human Resources Conference Room, 200 W. Mountain Ave. 5:30 - 7:00 p.m. Council Liaison: Ann Azari Staff Liaisons: Jaime Mares Gabe Serenyi A regular meeting of the Human Relations Commission was held on February 9, 1995 in the Human Resources Conference Room, 200 W. Mountain Ave., Suite A. HRC Members present: Linda Beardsley, Rickie Calkins, Letty Coykendall, Bob Lank, Man Oberoi, Shari Olson, and Ramona Robertson. HRC Member absent: Rick Payne. Guests present: Lu Fisk, Commission on the Status of Women and Lt. Deryle O'Dell, Fort Collins Police Services. Staff Members present: Jaime Mares Gabe Serenyi. 1. Meeting was called to order by Linda Beardsley, Chair, at 5:35 P.M. A motion to approve the minutes of the December 8, 1994 regular meeting was made by Bob Lank. The motion was seconded by Shari Olson, and approved by the HRC. II. Announcements Linda Beardsley requested that she be permitted to make an announcement prior to the start of the subcommittee reports. She announced that Tim Dolan had submitted his resignation due to personal and professional commitments. Gabe Serenyi stated that Tim's departure would leave the Police and Human Relations Award subcommittees short of members. Linda Beardsley asked for volunteers to join those subcommittees. Shari Olson volunteered to join the Police subcommittee and Ramona Robertson indicated that she would join the Human Relations Award subcommittee. Ill. Subcommittee Reports Committee on Executive Deleoation. Bob Lank reported that the subcommittee did not meet in January, and had no report. Human Resource Grants Committee. Shari Olson reported that the reviews of grant requests will be starting in March, and on -site visits of agencies submitting grant requests will begin later in the spring. Police Subcommittee. No report. Lt. Deryle O'Dell reported that he had met with some Citizen Liaison Program (CLP) members to discuss where things stood with the CLP. He felt that the meeting was very positive. CLP members were not upset with the HRC, but were anxious to work Human Relations Commission February 9, 1995 Page 2 more closely with the HRC. Deryle had put together a list of nine CLP members who wanted to remain active with the program. Those members were planning to get together on February 15th to discuss future plans. Gabe Serenyi and Deryle had been invited to participate. At this point HRC members were not invited because this was a planning meeting of how the CLP could interact and work more effectively with the HRC. HRC members asked Gabe Serenyi to forward a copy of the CLP Summary Report to all HRC members. Members of the Police Subcommittee had already received copies of this report in 1994. Diversity Subcommittee. No report. Human Relations Award Subcommittee. No report. Senior Center/CAB. Man Oberoi reported that the opening of the Senior center was delayed because of problems with the contractor. The current estimate is that the Center will open in May. Man also reported that the CAB is very concerned about the passage of the balanced budget amendment because of the potential impact on the funding of various human services and social programs. Multi -Cultural Commission. Linda Beardsley reported that the commission is looking for additional members. The current plan is to have 18 members on the commission. V. New Business Multi -Cultural Retreat. Gabe Serenyi announced that three members of each City commission (including the HRC) have been invited to participate in this event which will be held at the YMCA of the Rockies on April 28th and 29th. The registration fee would be paid from the HRC budget. Linda Beardsley and Bob Lank indicated that they would be interested in -attending. The third HRC slot would be taken by either Shari Olson or Rickie Calkins. Deryle O'Dell asked about the purpose of the retreat. Shari Olson suggested that possible purposes might be to raise consciousness about diversity issues, and to discuss commonly held stereotypes about people with diverse backgrounds. Gabe Serenyi suggested that Deryle contact Alma Vigo - Morales to get more information. Mayor Azari's Letter. Linda Beardsley announced that Mayor Azari had volunteered to attend the April meeting to discuss commission members' concerns about the role and operation of the HRC. Gabe Serenyi mentioned that the meeting could be open-ended: either with the entire commission, or with individual members. At this point a long discussion took place about some of the issues facing the HRC: questions about the role of the commission, and the parameters of its operation. The discussion also dealt with conflict that existed between some members of the commission. The suggestion was made to invite a facilitator to attend the next meeting of the HRC who could help members clarify roles, and possibly help resolve these conflicts. A number of different facilitators were suggested and discussed. The decision was finally made to request Jaime Mares to identify several non -City connected individuals who would be possible facilitator candidates, and select a person who could work effectively with the HRC. • 0 Human Relations Commission February 9. 1995 Page 3 Orientation, Bob Lank made the recommendation that a more thorough orientation process should take place when new members join the HRC so that these types of issues would be clarified when members begin their service on the HRC. Other HRC members concurred that this would be very beneficial. VI. Announcements Gabe Serenyi reminded HRC members that the 1994 Annual Report was overdue and needed to be sent to Council as soon as possible. The meeting adjourned at 7:05 P.M.