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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuman Relations Commission - Minutes - 07/14/1994HUMAN RELATIONS COMMISSION MINUTES Regular Meeting - July 14, 1994 Council Information Center, City Hall West 5:00 - 6:30 p.m. Council Liaison: Ann Azari Staff Liaisons: Jaime Mares Gabe Serenyi A regular meeting of the Human Relations Commission was held on July 14, 1994, in the Council Information Center, City Hall West. HRC Members present: Rickie Calkins, Letty Coykendall, Bob Lank, Man Oberoi, Shari Olson, and Ramona Robertson. HRC Members absent: Linda Beardsley, Arnold Gum and Harold Wallace. Guest present: Alma Vigo -Morales, City of Fort Collins Human Rights Officer. Staff Member present: Gabe Serenyi I. Meeting was called to order by Shari Olson, Vice Chair, at 5:35 P.M. A motion to approve the minutes of the regular meeting of June 9, 1994 was made by Rickie Calkins. The motion was seconded by Ramona Robertson, and approved by the HRC. Human Relations Award. No report. Larimer County Community Action Board (CAB). Shari Olson reported that the Larimer County Human Resources Grants Committee has started site visits to some of the 35 agencies that had submitted grant proposals. Ramona Robertson had the opportunity to visit Partners as part of this process. Diversity. Gabe Serenyi reported that a video had been prepared by a Poudre R-1 teacher using the slides that were taken by PR-1 students who were asked to make an assessment of the City's environment. The video is in rough form, and will need to be edited. A narration will be added to the video. Police Subcommittee. Letty Coykendall was disturbed that Police Services had not yet finalized the English/Spanish version of the Citizen Liaison Program (CLP) flyer. She indicated that a draft version had been sent to Lt. O'Dell over two months ago. Gabe Serenyi was asked to follow-up with Lt. O'Dell. Suggestions were made that the English/Spanish flyer should be sent to the Holy Family Church, the Northside Aztlan Center, the Homeless Mission, and other locations where CLP assistance might be needed, and where there are large numbers of Spanish-speaking residents. Human Relations Commission July 14, 1994 Page 2 A long discussion took place about the effectiveness of the Citizen Liaison program, and how its effectiveness could be measured. The suggestion was made that the CLP's role could be enhanced, and that several of the CLP volunteers should be invited to a HRC meeting to provide feedback as to how the program could be improved. Committee for Executive Delegation (CED). No report. III. Old Business. Shari Olson reported that she was not able to attend the most recent meeting of the committee that is making plans for the Colorado Human Relations Conference to be held in Greeley from September 16 to 18. Linda Beardsley, however, was able to attend. Shari informed the HRC that conference organizers needed to know as soon as possible how many participants planned to attend. Gabe Serenyi reported that he had invited Sister Mary Alice Murphy to the August 11 th meeting to give the HRC ideas about how the HRC might get involved with the homeless issue. He recommended that Gerry Giron of the Homeless Shelter be invited to the October meeting because the August meeting would have a full agenda. IV. New Business. Alma Vigo -Morales, the new Fort Collins Human Rights Officer, was introduced to the HRC. Alma gave a brief overview of her job as she sees it now, but stressed that her responsibilities were still being discussed and were by no means finalized. She felt that some of the areas she would be focusing on included: o Dealing with issues surrounding discrimination. o Acting as a mediator in civil rights disputes. o Being a civil rights advocate in terms of educating the public about civil rights issues. Alma also mentioned that the City is looking for a facility to house her office. Some of the considerations that were being taken into account were: accessibility to public transportation, enough space for separate meeting rooms, possible facilities for child-care, etc. She indicated that until a permanent facility was found she would be using an office in Employee Development at 200 W. Mountain Ave. Her current phone number is 221-6871. Rickie Calkins wanted to know how the HRC could assist Alma in her new position. Alma responded that the HRC could help in many ways, including being a "sounding board' for various issues/programs that she will be working on. Alma also suggested that the HRC could assist in publicizing her new position. Rickie Calkins requested information about the diversity make-up of applicants and recent appointees to the City Boards and Commissions. Gabe Serenyi suggested that the Diversity sub- committee send a letter to Rita Harris, the City liaison with the Boards and Commissions, and request the information. A motion was made to proceed with that suggestion. A discussion took place about the series of articles that have been running in the Coloradoan highlighting discrimination and diversity issues. Letty Coykendall suggested that the HRC send a letter to the newspaper commending it for the articles. Human Relations Commission July 14, 1994 Page 3 V. Announcements. Bob Lank announced that CSU will be sponsoring Men's Issues Awareness Days in October. He wanted to know if it would be possible to run an article in the City News publicizing the event. Gabe Serenyi suggested that Bob prepare a draft article which would be sent to the editor of the City News. Bob indicated he would prepare and forward the article to Gabe. The meeting adjourned at 6:50 P.M.