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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuman Relations Commission - Minutes - 10/08/1998HUMAN RELATIONS COMMISSION MINUTES Regular Meeting - October 8, 1998 Human Rights Office Conference Room, 405 Canyon Ave. 5:30 - 7:00 p.m. Gabe Chairperson: Bob Lank Phone: 493-5809 A regular meeting of the Human Relations Commission was held on October 8, 1998 in the Human Rights Office Conference Room, 405 Canyon Ave. HRC Members present: Viviane Abt, Brian Carroll, LaMills Garrett, Bob Lank, and Man Oberoi. HRC Member absent: Judy Berg, Leslie Frantz, Joe Jaramillo and Lori Lenard. Guests present: Bobbie Gonzales and Bob Viscount, Multicultural Commission. Staff Members present: Gabe Serenyi, HRC Staff Liaison Greg Tempel, Assistant City Attorney Lt. Brad Hurst, Fort Collins Police Services 1. Meeting was called to order by Bob Lank, Chair, at 5:40 p.m. 11. Subcommittee Reports Committee on Fxpcutive Delegation. Bob Lank reported that the CED did not meet. Human Resource Grants Committee. No report Police Subcommittee. Brian Carroll reported that the Police Department had submitted a police complaint investigation report for review by the subcommittee. Brian indicated that a response had been submitted to the Chief with the subcommittee's feedback and recommendations. The subcommittee also discussed the future of the subcommittee in light of the establishment of the Police Review Board. The recommendation was made that the issue be further discussed at the HRC's retreat in November. A discussion took place at this point about the future of the Citizen Liaison Program (CLP). The responsibility for running this program will remain with the HRC, and will not be transferred to the new Police Review Board. The role of this group will continue to be to assist residents with filing police complaints, but not to be advocates for complainants. City Code allows for some flexibility as how to administer the program. The Police Subcommittee will need to make some decisions as how to resurrect the program. Man Oberoi suggested that some well-known citizens should be appointed to the CLP so that the program would be better utilized. The CLP should be given greater publicity so that people find out Human Relations Commission October 8, 1998 Page 2 about its availability. A lengthy discussion took place at this point about the Police Subcommittee police complaint review process. Diversity. No report Human Relations Awards Subcommitte .. No report. III. Old Business HRC Retreat • Bob Lank suggested that the first part of the retreat could be a diversity related exercise designed to allow people to get to know each other better; this in turn could help them work together more effectively as a commission. Another part of the retreat could be used to work on developing an overall vision for the HRC. • Gabe Serenyi suggested that another activity might be to do some work planning for 1999. This would be especially timely because the 1999 HRC Work Plans are due in the City Clerk's Office at the end of November. • Man Oberoi felt that it was important to give each subcommittee an opportunity to present its plans and issues rather than just a few subcommittees such as Police and Diversity. • Brian Carroll felt that it will be important to spend time reviewing the results of the vote on Ordinances 21 and 22, and deciding what role the HRC should have in light of the results. A healing process would need to take place for whichever side lost. • LaMills Garrett felt it was important for the HRC to know how the community at large felt about the role of the HRC, and what the community's expectations were of the HRC. Gabe Serenyi suggested that a survey of city residents might be helpful. La Mills volunteered to work on some vehicle to get feedback from the community. Viviane Abt suggested another approach based on a CSU model: select one or two representative individuals and have them respond to in- depth questions. Their responses could then be discussed at the retreat. Greg Temple indicated that it would be important to formulate the survey questions, and have them reviewed and approved by the entire HRC. A discussion then took place about specific wording that could be used for the survey proposed by La Mills. After some discussion, the following questions were proposed: - Age/Race/Sex/Other identifier - Are you a college student? - How welcome do you feel in Fort Collins? Human Relations Commission October 8, 1998 Page 3 How welcoming are the communities in Fort Collins to diverse groups? What do you think of the Fort Collins Human Relations Commission? Bob Lank asked for a motion to approve the survey questions. La Mills Garrett made the motion to approve, and was seconded by Viviane Abt. A vote was taken, and the motion passed unanimously. La Mills indicated that he would like to spend some time at the retreat reviewing the results of the survey. • Brian Carroll made the suggestion that the HRC make a presentation to the mayor at the and of the day and share with her the HRC's vision, and their ideas of short and long-term areas to focus on. Most HRC members felt this was a good idea, even though it would require members to work a little harder during the meeting, and stay focused. • Bob Lank indicated that he would contact Laurie Fonken-Joseph, and discuss with Laurie her role during the retreat. IV. New Business None V. Announcements None The meeting adjourned at 7:00 p.m.