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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuman Relations Commission - Minutes - 10/09/1997HUMAN RELATIONS COMMISSION MINUTES Regular Meeting - October 9, 1997 Human Resources Conference Room, 200 W. Mountain Ave. 5:30 - 7:00 p.m. Council Liaison: Ann Azari I Staff Liaison: J.R. Duncan Chairperson: Bob Lenk Phone: 493-5809 A regular meeting of the Human Relations Commission was held on October 9, 1997 in the Human Resources Conference Room, 200 W. Mountain Ave. HRC Members present: Viviane Abt, Judy Berg, Brain Carroll, Leslie Frantz, Lori Lenard, Bob Lenk, Joe Stem. HRC Members Absent: Joe Jaramillo, Man Oberoi. Staff present: Greg Tempel, Assistant City Attorney Brad Hurst, Police Services Mike West, Police Services Gabe Serenyi, HRC Staff Liaison J. R. Duncan, New HRC Staff Liaison Guests present: Lu Fisk, Commission on the Status of Women I. Meeting was called to order by Bob Lenk, Chair, at 5:47 p.m. II. Bob Lenk asked for a motion to approve the minutes of the September 11, 1997 meeting. Lori Lenard made the motion to approve, and was seconded by Brian Carroll. The minutes were approved by the HRC with no changes. III. Subcommittee Reports Human Resource Grants Committee. Leslie Frantz reported that all the site visits for agencies requesting funding for 1998 had been done except for one. The final allocation meeting will be on November 14th, which will be after the November elections and the committee will know what dollars, if any, are available for 1998. Committee on Executive Delegation. Bob Lenk reported on the full -day retreat the Task Force had on September 25th. Most of the discussion focused on sexual orientation as a basis of discrimination. There were a couple of straw votes taken and, by a slim margin, the votes were in favor of including sexual orientation in the new ordinance. There were also votes taken to not include physical characteristics in the ordinance and not to include source of income, but possibly look at people on public assistance who are discriminated against in housing or public accommodation such as daycare. There was a 50150 vote on ancestry. There was also discussion on what the consequences will be for violations of the ordinance, specifically whether there will be civil or criminal penalties. Discussion also took place about exceptions to the ordinance for businesses with less than fifteen people, religious organizations and all non-profit organizations. When the draft is finished, it will be sent out to various groups for review, including the HRC. Joe Stern asked Greg Tempel if the Human Rights Ordinance must be sent to a vote of the people. Greg said it was his opinion that it was not required to be referred to a vote of the people. An election could take place if the City Council chooses to do so, or if citizens present a petition to place the issue on the ballot. Police Subcommittee. Sergeant Mike West handed out a Internal Affairs Summary report. The report dealt with the number of "Formal Investigations" handled and dispositions assigned for 1996 for Fort Collins Police Services. For 1996 there were six formal investigations. The report also covered informal complaints and inquires handled by Internal Affairs. Sergeant West reviewed the report with the HRC. Sergeant West stated that minor complaints made to a persons supervisor could be handled on an informal basis with only verbal counseling taking place. It is the supervisors discretion whether to document a complaint of not. Most of the time, however, Sergeant West said that minor complaints are documented in a persons performance evaluation. Only one case went before the HRC in 1996 for review. This case actually did not meet the requirements for review as outlined in the ordinance, but the review was requested by the Chief. Sergeant West stated that we are currently three-quarters of the way through 1997 and the department is at formal investigation number fourteen. Sergeant West said the increase is strongly related to Chief Harrison's reliance on a more formal process. Judy Berg asked what criteria moves a complaint into a formal process. Sergeant West stated the department has an administrative directive A-10, approximately twenty pages long, which outlines what requires a formal investigation. Lieutenant Hurst mentioned that he had handed the policy out the HRC at a previous meeting and would be happy to provide another copy if anyone needed one. Judy Berg asked if there has ever been any type of evaluation or. attempt to get feedback from people about how they feel their complaints were handled. Sgt. West said that occasionally, on an informal basis, he does follow-up with individuals to determine if they are satisfied with how their complaint was handled, but that there is no formal process to evaluate or obtain feedback from individuals. Judy Berg said it would be nice to have some data on whether people are happy overall with the process in order to determine if the review process is working well already, or if there is a need for a separate review process Lt. Hurst said police services is also interested in tracking this type of information, but currently does not have the staff to do so. Currently only one person assigned to Internal Investigations and that person is kept busy full time just keeping up with incoming telephone calls and complaints. Lieutenant Hurst handed out the draft of the proposed new Citizen's Review Board ordinance. Lt. Hurst said the Chief would like ideally to get some type of written feedback from the HRC within the next thirty days. Bob Link recommended that the Police Subcommittee meet and review the proposed ordinance prior to the November meeting. After meeting, the Police Subcommittee will send its comments and recommendations to the other HRC members prior to the November meeting. The HRC would then discuss the ordinance at the November meeting and draft a response to Chief Harrison. Greg Tempel and Lt. Hurst offered to meet the Police Subcommittee to answer any questions they might have about the ordinance. Lt. Hurst stated that the draft proposal creates a separate commission, no longer a subcommittee of the HRC. The committee members would be appointed by the City Manager, from a list of people provide by the City Council. The commission would see a greater number cases then are seen under the current City ordinance. The Citizen Liaison Program would move to the new commission. A discussion took place about the need for people who serve on the proposed new commission to attended the Citizen's Police Academy or have an equivalent understanding of the law enforcement profession. Another discussion took place as to whether the Citizen Liaison Program should stay with the HRC or move to the new proposed commission. Brian Carroll told the board that under the current review process, if a case the subcommittee reviewed is appealed by the person who filed the case, those members of the commission who took part in the review of the case being appealed or those who are currently serving on the subcommittee shall not participate in hearing such an appeal. This means that if you are a member of the Police Subcommittee but not involved in reviewing a case, you could not be involved in the appeal process. Only the four HRC members who are not on the Police Subcommittee and who were not involved in the initial review, could take part in the appeal of a case. Joe Stern told the group he had gone on a ride -a -long with both Fort Collins Police Services and the Larimer County Sheriff's Department and recommend that if any of the members get the opportunity they should go on a ride -a -long. IV. New Business Gabe Serenyi handed out a copy of last years Work Plan and told the committee that the draft of the 1998 Work Plan needs to be discussed at the November meeting. Members were told that after discussing the draft at the November meeting, they could give the finalized draft to J.R. Duncan and he would put it in a finalized form and forward it to the City Clerks Office. Gabe Serenyi announced this would be his last HRC meeting. The HRC members thanked Gabe for all his support over the last four years. V. Announcements None The meeting adjourned at 7:14 p.m.