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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuman Relations Commission - Minutes - 01/13/2000E HUMAN RELATIONS COMMISSION MINUTES Regular Meeting - January 13, 2000 Human Resources Dept. Conference Room, 200 W. Mountain Ave. 5:30 - 7:00 p.m. Bill Chairperson: Bob Lenk Phone: 493-5809 Gabe A regular meeting of the Human Relations Commission was held on January 13, 2000 in the Human Resources Conference Room, 200 W. Mountain Ave. HRC Members present: Dan Devine, Mary Gomez, Shion Hung, Bob Lenk, Man Oberoi and Barry Siff. HRC Member absent: Tim Daugherty Staff Member present: Gabe Serenyi, HRC Staff Liaison I. Meeting was called to order by Bob Lenk, Chair, at 5:35 p.m. II. Bob Lenk asked for a motion to approve the minutes of the regular meeting held on December 9, 1999. Man Oberoi made the motion to approve, and was seconded by Barry Siff. The minutes were approved with no changes. III. New HRC member Dan Devine was welcomed and introduced, and all others present introduced themselves. IV. Subcommittee Reports A. Human Resource Grants Committee Bob Lenk indicated that the major items to report are included in the e-mail that Gabe had included in this month's packet. The future of the Grants Committee is somewhat uncertain at this point. Bob reported that he had spoken with Diane Jones about the issue, and she also was uncertain as to what will happen during the second half of the year. There is a strong possibility that the City will make the same dollar allocation as it did for the current year, and then decide what to do for the long-term. One thing for certain - the subcommittee will not be involved in any activities for at least the next eight months. B. Diversity. Bob Lenk reported that he was on one of the two interview teams that interviewed and assessed the seven finalist applicants for the City's Human Rights Officer (HRO) position. All the applicants were well -qualified, but he did not know who, if anybody, had yet been appointed as of this date. Man Oberoi stated that the HRO had regularly attended HRC meetings in the past, but had not attended recently. Bob Lenk mentioned that Laurie Fonken-Joseph, the departing HRO, had been cutting back her work hours due to family commitments, and has not attended as many of the evening meetings that she had in the past. It will be a good idea, however, to invite the new HRO to our meetings once she starts her new job. Barry Siff indicated that it would be important for one of the sub -committees, probably Diversity, to meet with the new HRO, and get to know her, and have her find out about the role of the HRC. C. Police Subcommittee. Gabe Serenyi reviewed the role and history of the Citizen Liaison program (CLP). Gabe also mentioned that the HRC had discussions in the past about rejuvenating the CLP and possibly doing some marketing to create public awareness of the program. Mary Gomez indicated that she had been trained by Police 0 r Human Relations Commission January 13, 2000 Page 2 Services to be a citizen liaison. The other Police Subcommittee members should probably also be trained. Both Barry Siff and Dan Devine indicated an interest in being trained. Gabe volunteered to contact Lt. Hal Dean to arrange for the training. D. Human Relations Awards A discussion took place about options for a date to hold the awards breakfast. Pros and cons were discussed of having the breakfast either in the fall or the spring. One of the main disadvantages of the fall time frame is that we did not get any Youth nominations due to summer break. After some discussion, the decision was made to hold the breakfast during the week of April 24th. Gabe Serenyi volunteered to contact the Lincoln Center and the mayor to identify a specific date during that week. Dan Devine volunteered to draft a brief article about the awards that could be included in a forthcoming issue of City News (which is included with utility bills). V. Old Business None V1. New Business A brief discussion took place about the 1999 - 2001 Council Policy Agenda - Themes and Goals, and topics in that document that relate to the HRC's areas of interest. The general consensus was that not enough goals and objectives related to diversity and related issues were highlighted in that document. Several ideas were brought forward as to how that concern might best be communicated to Council. Gabe Serenyi reminded members that the 14RC Annual Report was due on January 31 st. Because of the large number of new members on the HRC, he volunteered to do the Grants and Awards subcommittee reports. Bob Lenk indicated he would draft the CED, Diversity and Police subcommittee reports. The following subcommittee appointments were finalized: HR Awards Man Oberoi Tim Daugherty Shion Hung Dan Devine* CED Bob Lenk* Tim Daugherty Diversity Man Oberoi Bob Lenk Barry Siff* Mary Gomez Grants Tim Daugherty Shion Hung* Police Mary Gomez* Dan Devine Barry Siff *Temporary chair appointment. Full-time chair persons to be chosen at first subcommittee meeting. VII. Announcements Bob Lenk announced that he will help facilitate a dialogue dinner sponsored by Our Own Best Interest on the evening of January 17th. He noted that a number of HRC members were signed -up to attend. The meeting adjourned at 6:55 p.m.