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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuman Relations Commission - Minutes - 02/12/20151 City of Fort Collins Human Relations Commission Regular Meeting Minutes February 12, 2015, 5:30 PM CIC Room, City Hall West 300 Laporte Avenue, Fort Collins, Colorado 80521 The Human Relations Commission promotes acceptance and respect for diversity through educational programs and activities to discourage all forms of discrimination based on age, disability, gender, race, religion, etc. Council Liaison: Mayor Karen Weitkunat Staff Liaison: Beth Sowder Recorder: Michele Scalva Commissioners Present: Colleen Conway, Myles Crane, Christy Doyon, Christine Hays, Joseph D. Leske, Jimena Sagas, Preety Sathe, and Mary Vivo Guest Presenters/Citizens: Ms. Francis McDonald, Outreach and Education Coordinator, Department of Regulatory Agencies, Colorado Civil Rights Division, State of Colorado, and Eloise Emery, Affordable Housing Board, Human Relations Commission Liaison Excused Absent: Victor Smith CALL TO ORDER The meeting commenced promptly at 5:30 p.m. PUBLIC INPUT None. GUEST SPEAKER PRESENTATION – Ms. Francis McDonald Ms. McDonald stated her organization performs investigations for civil rights complaints regarding discrimination in the workplace. Ms. McDonald provided information materials including: an Alternative Dispute Resolution Program brochure, a mediation and conciliation program ran by the Colorado Civil Rights Division to address conflicts and possibly prevent a lawsuit being filed; and a Colorado Anti- Discrimination Laws poster stating discrimination is illegal in the three areas of employment, housing, and public accommodation and defined each area. All of this information and more is provided on the website: www.dora.colorado.gov/crd. Meeting Highlights Summary: 1. Guest speaker Frances McDonald, Outreach and Education Coordinator, Colorado Civil Rights Division, discussed how the Department of Regulatory Affairs investigates civil rights complaints regarding discrimination in the workplace. Earlier during the day she trained City personnel and provided them as well as the HRC with helpful reference materials. 2. The Commission decided that based on technological advances and alternative community resources now available, it was not necessary for HRC to maintain a website listing of foreign language translators – a practice established about a decade ago when such resources were not accessible to the public. 3. The HRC assessed results of its highly successful January 13th Forum on PTSD and the Commission ensured that final plans were set for the March 10th Forum on Mental Health Issues Impacting Law Enforcement and the Penal System which will be co-hosted with PRPLD and held at the Harmony/Shields Library at 7 p.m. 2 Due to the brevity of time, Ms. McDonald provided hand-outs of her presentation titled, Anti- Discrimination in Employment. She highlighted information on “protected classes” and defined discrimination as “different treatment based on a person’s protected class”. If a person feels he/she has been discriminated against, he/she must file a complaint with the Colorado Civil Rights Division (CCRD) before a lawsuit can be filed. The complaint is investigated by the CCRD to look for probable cause and, possibly, to identify options for resolution. Ms. McDonald highlighted information on the protected class of sexual orientation and the use of restrooms. Q & A: After a grievance is filed, there is an investigation to learn why the charge was filed. While an investigation is being conducted, the complainant is not compensated by their employer. The Colorado Legislature has mandated that the anti-discrimination laws poster must be posted in English in the workplace. The poster is in Spanish on the other side, but it is not mandated to be posted. There is no cost to file a complaint. Anyone can attend the presentations Ms. McDonald conducts; the schedule is posted on the website. Law changes in the last six months include a significant increase in the compensation one can receive from an employer as a result of a discrimination lawsuit. AGENDA REVIEW Chair Crane asked if there were changes to the agenda. There were none. Commissioner Hays motioned to approve the agenda. Commissioner Vivo seconded and it was approved 8:0. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Chair Crane asked for a motion to approve the January HRC meeting minutes. Commissioner Hays motioned for approval. Commissioner Sathe seconded and it passed 8:0. BUDGET REPORT Staff Liaison Sowder provided a budget report with a stated balance of $3,617.42. Commissioner Doyon motioned for budget approval and Commissioner Vivo seconded. It passed 8:0. OLD BUSINESS 2014 Annual Report Posting: The report was submitted to the Boards and Commissions Coordinator and will be posted on the website. City Sustainability events re: MLK, Affordable Housing, and Poverty: Chair Crane thanked commissioner Hays and former commissioners Boni and Owiny for their assistance in reviewing PSD students’ contest work and invited commissioners to participate in this community event in December 2015. Staff Liaison Sowder reported on recent community conversation events focused on affordable housing and poverty. All information collected from the events is being summarized. The next steps are to use the information to establish short and long-term goals and engage a team to continue working on the issues. Staff Liaison Sowder will bring updates as they become available. Staff Liaison Sowder circulated a cumulative report created by the City that summarizes work completed by area human service programs and provides local statistics of community needs – entitled “Human Service Partners: A Community Snapshot”. The report was presented in January to various human service agencies directors, staff, volunteers, and people served. The Mayor and some councilmembers were also present. The report can be found online at www.fcgov.com/socialsustainability. Staff Liaison Sowder reported that the City has worked with the Murphy Center to provide additional lockers for homeless community members to store their things during the day, while they are looking for work and doing other activities to support self-sufficiency. 3 Chair Crane reported that over 300 people attended the Bridges Out of Poverty training last week. This complimentary event was sponsored by The Bohemian Foundation. He reported the speaker, Jodi Pharr, was engaging, had extensive personal experience with the subject matter, and has been invited back by Fort Collins and other communities around the country to present her important message. State of the City: Commissioner Vivo attended and shared highlights of the address. She brought all commissioners a 2014 Report to the Community booklet that was distributed as the event. 2015 HRC Meeting Speaker Proposals: Commissioner Vivo will coordinate with Kim Barman, CANDO Coordinator to present on March 12th. Commissioner Smith previous stated that he would invite CSU Professor Toni Zimmerman to present on April 9th,on diversity if her schedule permits. Commissioner Doyon will coordinate a speaker from Disabled Resource Services for May 14th. Speakers are still needed for June and July. Commissioner Doyon suggested a speaker from the Murphy Center and Staff Liaison Sowder indicated that someone from Social Sustainability could address the HRC on poverty matters if the HRC has interest. Chair Crane mentioned another possibility was a speaker from the Larimer County Food Bank and that the HRC will plan to invite an officer from the FCPS to present their annual Citizens Liaison Training for HRC probably in August. Commissioners discussed the time allowed for speaker presentations. Commissioner Hays proposed that at each meeting the commissioners review the next month’s speaker and topic, and decide on how much time to allot for the presentation and Q & A. There was agreement amongst commissioners to try this method. New commissioners’ responsibilities/Orientation follow-up: Chair Crane will email a list of organizations for commissioners to consider participation representing the HRC as liaisons for Community Outreach. Commissioners are encouraged but not required to make periodic liaison update reports about relevant information to the HRC. Staff Liaison Sowder confirmed with commissioners that they received the email from Christine Macrina to view the commissioner orientation video on YouTube. March elections for officers, committee chairs, committee assignments and community liaison outreach: In March, commissioners will elect officers and committee chairs. Chair Crane offered to step down if any other commissioner was interested in being HRC Chairperson or to continue in that role for this year if no one else expressed interest. Vice Chair Conway would like to continue in her role for another year. Commissioner Doyon would like to serve as the Educational Outreach Committee (EOC) Chair, with membership support by Christine Hays and Jimena Sagas. Commissioner Smith previously expressed willingness to serve as Media and Community Recognition Chair with membership support by Mary Vivo. Commissioner Leske would like to serve as the Government Relations Chair with membership support by Preety Sathe. Translator list statement from Office of City Attorney: Commissioners discussed adding a statement to the translator list posted on the HRC website. Commissioner Hays proposed removing the list because there are several other entities in the community that maintain translator information. Commissioners discussed options for providing translator information. 1. Commissioner Hays motioned to remove the translator list from the HRC web page, and that it would no longer be the HRC’s responsibility to provide. Commissioner Hays observed astutely that that based on technological advances and alternative community resources now available, it was not necessary for HRC to maintain a website listing of foreign language translators – a practice established about a decade ago when such resources were not accessible to the public. Vice Chair Conway seconded and it passed 8:0. Per Commissioners: 4 Commissioner Hays asked Staff Liaison Sowder if the City has heard from other community members in the Buckingham, Alta Vista and Andersonville neighborhoods about planned development there. Staff Liaison Sowder shared information about neighborhood gentrification, housing issues throughout Fort Collins, and current work being done to monitor and address this. NEW BUSINESS Scheduling and Reservation for City Hall West for Dec HR Awards: Staff Liaison Sowder will request a CIC Room reservation for the Human Relations Awards Ceremony to be held on December 1, 2015 in conjunction with the Mayor’s Proclamation for International Human Rights Day. Community and Neighborhood Livability – PAFC Proposal: Chair Crane distributed a handout with a motion for HRC consideration. The motion requested the HRC to designate a representative to sign an agreement or Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Partnership for Age-friendly Communities (PAFC), an educational resource all-volunteer group headed by the Larimer County Office on Aging together with the Larimer County Foundation on Aging and comprised of representatives from various non-profit, academic and local government organizations as well as other individual community volunteers. To ensure the MoU’s compliance with City Code and consistency with the HRC’s mandated role pertaining to Community and Neighborhood Livability, the MoU was submitted for legal counsel review prior to the meeting. The Assistant City Attorney subsequently notified the Staff Liaisons of both the HRC and Senior Advisory Board that this MoU could be presented to the HRC and SAB respectively for their discussion and consideration for authorization and approval. At its November 2014 meeting, the HRC previously had approved a motion unanimously for ”support of World Elder Abuse Awareness Day on June 15, 2015 as well as its continuing support of the Partnership for Age-Friendly Communities of Larimer County”. Commissioners’ discussion recognized that as this was probably the first occasion, at least in recent years, that the HRC was requested to formally become a member of and/or endorse the activities of another community organization, it was prudent for HRC to develop policy guidelines for such potential memberships and/or endorsements, if any. Commissioner Crane motioned to sign the MOU and Commissioner Doyon seconded. Chair Crane asked for further discussion and commissioners shared their thoughts. Chair Hays called for a vote and the results were: two approved - Chair Crane and Commissioner Sagas; three opposed – Commissioners Leske, Vivo and Hays, and three abstained – Commissioners Sathe, Doyon and Vice Chair Conway. Commissioners further discussed the MOU’s wording as well as HRC interest in having more time to consider it. With minor modification of the MOU verbiage, Chair Crane called for a second vote. Chair Crane motioned to sign the amended MOU and Commissioner Vivo seconded. The results were: three approved – Commissioners Sagas and Vivo and Chair Crane; three opposed – Commissioners Leske and Hays and Vice Chair Conway; and two abstained – Commissioners Doyon and Sathe. Recognizing that the issue of HRC’s membership in and/or its formal support or endorsement of any community organization merited further discussion, the HRC decided to add this issue to its March Agenda for further discussion. High Performing Government – Overview of City’s Organization: Staff Liaison Sowder announced that the City is hiring someone to monitor their compliance with specific legislation, such as Title 6. Per Commissioners: None stated. STANDING COMMITTEE AND LIAISON REPORTS 5 Executive Committee (EC) CHIP/CPD/CSU/LCOA: (Community Health Improvement Program, Center for Public Deliberation, Colorado State University, Larimer County Office on Aging) Chair Crane previously submitted an email report. Senior Advisory Board (SAB) Chair Crane announced that the Senior Advisory Board Chair Linda Gabel has resigned due to other obligations and time constraints. SAB Vice Chair Diane Smith has assumed Interim Chair responsibilities. American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU): Commissioner Hays volunteered to contact the ACLU for updates. Government Relations Committee (GR) 2015 Calendar/City Council Meetings/ J. D. Leske email report: GR Chair Sathe thanked Commissioner Leske for attending the recent Council meeting and complimented his email report. Commissioner Sathe reviewed the City Council meeting attendance schedule and made updates. Chair Crane recognized GR Chair Sathe for her fine work on the Committee and her timely Organization of the 2015 Council Meeting attendance calendar. Citizens Review Board: No report. Citizens Liaison Program – scheduling FCPD drive-along: Commissioner Leske will coordinate his ride along with FCPS. Other High Performing Government Issues: None stated. Educational Outreach Committee (EOC) WC/The Center NoCO Office Closure/Boys & Girls Clubs: The Women’s Commission minutes are posted and available to view online. The Center’s LGBTQQIAAP Northern Colorado office closed last month and services are being overseen by the Denver location. After Action Review January 13th PTSD Forum Status: All event reviews and comments received were positive. March 10th Mental Health (MH) Forum Planning Status: Vice Chair Conway provided a hand-out on March’s event speakers. This information was also sent via email. MH Forum anonymous note(s): Chair Crane shared copies of the 50+ Marketplace newspaper that published an article on the January MH Forum. The January forum’s anonymous note was mentioned toward the end of the article. EOC Meeting Feb 10th Recap: EOC Chair Hays sent out a report via email. Media & Community Recognition Committee (M&CR) No report. UPCOMING Events/Announcements Department of Social Sustainability announcements: None stated. Per Commissioners: None stated. 6 Meeting Highlights/Discussion Recap and Approval Chair Crane suggested the meeting highlights as: presentation by Ms. Francis McDonald, DORA; removal of the translation list from the HRC web page; discussion of signing a proposed MOU with PAFC; and the March 10th Mental Health Forum. CLOSING/Call for Adjournment Chair Crane requested a motion to adjourn. Commissioner Hays motioned and Commissioner Sathe seconded. It passed 8:0. The meeting adjourned at 7:37 p.m. The next HRC regular meeting is scheduled for Thursday, March 12th at 5:30 p.m. in the CIC room. Meeting Hand-outs and brochures: Colorado Anti-Discrimination Laws poster Alternative Dispute Resolution Program brochure Anti-Discrimination in Employment presentation hand-out HRC budget report 2014 Report to the Community Translation list web page statement Proposed community livability motion hand-out MOU with PAFC City of Fort Collins Organization Chart