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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuman Rights and Diversity - 11/14/2019APPROVED MINUTES EDEN PRAIRIE HUMAN RIGHTS & DIVERSITY COMMISSION THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2019 7:00 P.M., Eden Prairie Center Office of Housing and Community Services COMMISSION MEMBERS: Greg Leeper (Chair), Shahram Missaghi, (Vice Chair), Katherine Lucht, Leslie Philmon, Rehmatbai Sumra; Sana Elassar, Philip Skeie, Asad Aliweyd, Tyler Aman STUDENT MEMBERS: Caprice Steidle, Najma Ali, Nicole Mayer, Stavan Bhakta, Winifred Halm De-Souza COMMISSION STAFF: Megan Yerks, Staff Liaison Julie Krull, Recording Secretary I. CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL Chair Leeper called the meeting to order at 7:11 p.m. Commission Members Philmon, Sumra and Aman and Student Members Steidle, Mayer, Bhakta and Halm De-Souza were absent. Missaghi arrived during discussion of Old Business. II. INTRODUCTION OF GUESTS There was no guest speaker for the evening. III. APPROVAL OF AGENDA MOTION: Elassar moved, seconded by Lucht, to approve the agenda. Motion carried 5-0. IV. APPROVAL OF THE OCTOBER 10, 2019 MEETING MINUTES MOTION: Skeie moved, seconded by Elassar, to approve the October 10, 2019 minutes. Motion carried 5-0. V. LOCAL NON-PROFIT PRESENTATION – VIDEO EXCERTPS FROM NATIVE GOVERNANCE CENTER’S INDIGENOUS LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT EVENT Elassar informed the Commission that the video was a training video that Metropolitan State hosted and can be viewed on Facebook. The video discussed the Native Governance Center’s Indigenous Land Acknowledgement. The training portion lasts HUMAN RIGHTS & DIVERSITY MINUTES November 14, 2019 Page 2 approximately one hour. Yerks commented a burden can be placed on tribal members when they are asked about land acknowledgements and that the commission needs to be sensitive of the work that we are asking Native American community members to do when consulting them. The Commission watched a clip for approximately 8 minutes and after Elassar encouraged everyone to watch the film in its entirety. V. STAFF REPORT – MEGAN YERKS A. COMMUNITY EVENTS AND UPDATES: 1. OHCS Human Services General Fund Grant – This grant will be going before City Council on December 3rd, 2019. Staff recommendations have been made and are currently being reviewed. Final funding awards will be approved by City Council to begin funding January 1st, 2020. 2. Interfaith Circle’s Thanksgiving Community Celebration – Pax Christi Catholic Community with host this event on Saturday, November 23rd at 7:30 pm. 3. Navigating the Waters 2019: Disability Access, Awareness and Etiquette – This will took place at St. Andrews Church on November 8th from 9 am – 12 pm. There was be a panel discussion with Minnesota Council on Disability, MNDOT, and MN Department of Human Services. 4. PeopleFest! 2020 – The festival will take place August 1st thru August 16th, 2020 with the party on August 9th. Four subcommittees have been formed and committee chairs appointed. 1. Marketing and Communications: Megan 2. Events Liaison Team: Shanti from the Heritage Preservation Commission 3. Party People: Jes Schrom/Rachel Mikel. HRDC commissioners are encouraged to participate as subcommittee members 4. Fundraising, Evaluation and Volunteers: Mark Weber The next meeting will be Wednesday, December 4th, from 4-5:30 pm. The Party People Subcommittee meeting will be Thursday, November 21st, at 1:30 pm. 5. Give to the Max Day is TODAY! – This took place on November 14th. Many organizations have matching funds for donations. As of 6:15 p.m. on Nov. 14th, over $15 million dollars has been raised. 5. Health and Wellness Workshop: Physical Activity for Health – Thursday, December 5th from 6:30 – 8:30 pm. This will be at the City Center in the Heritage room and is hosted by PROP, OHCS and NAMI. HUMAN RIGHTS & DIVERSITY MINUTES November 14, 2019 Page 3 VI. OLD BUSINESS A. EDEN PRAIRIE OPEN HOUSE This took place at Eden Prairie Fire Department #1 on Saturday, October 12 from 11-2 pm. Elassar, Skeie and Aliweyd attended this event and said it was well attended. Elassar said in regards to a question on the spin wheel, she had one suggestion. In regards to the question, “which tribes resided in Eden Prairie, she would like it changed to the present tense, “which tribes reside in Eden Prairie. Yerks said she will be working on that. VII. NEW BUSINESS A. NATIVE AMERICAN HERITAGE MONTH - NOVEMBER There will be a series of posts to the City’s Facebook page that feature the discoveries made during the archeological dig along Flying Cloud Drive. B. 2020 WORKPLAN Yerks said the Commission will review the 2019 work plan and discuss the 2020 work plan. Chair Leeper asked the Commission for highlights from 2019. Skeie said Kickin’ it with the Cops was a good event because of the level of engagement of everyone that was there. Chair Leeper said his highlight was when Chief Weber stepped out of the dunk tank and said we need to do it again. Elassar agreed and said it was a good event; Aliweyd concurred with Elassar. Lucht said her highlight was PeopleFest! and Culture N Motion. Missaghi said his highlight was the mini teams because there was more structured work this year. Chair Leeper pointed out as next year’s work plan evolves to think about what you would want to be involved in. Yerks asked the Commission what they would do different for next year. Lucht said she loved the Human Library but pointed out the attendance is not there and stated if this was to continue the Commission should plan this differently. Yerks said they most likely will not keep this because it cannot be properly resourced. Elassar said to keep Culture N Motion going. Ali said Culture N Motion was very good but it would have been nice to have more people there. She suggested next year publicizing it more through social media so more high school students come. Yerks suggested this be a student project; Chair Leeper concurred. Yerks said it is important to utilize teachers for youth based events. Yerks reviewed the existing 2020 commitments. They are: HUMAN RIGHTS & DIVERSITY MINUTES November 14, 2019 Page 4 a. Human Rights Awards – the applications open in February, selected in March and awarded in May. The categories are Individual, Business, Youth and Non-Profit. b. Stop the Trafficking 5K – this will take place in June of 2020, date TBD. c. PeopleFest! – this will take place in August of 2020, date TBD. Chair Leeper asked if we should keep the following subcommittee: Police Community Relations Subcommittee: Kickin’ it with the Cops. Yerks said she did talk with the police and they would like to expand this event. It was suggested to have it for 3 months during the summer. Yerks asked if the Commission wanted to be involved and to think about it and it will be discussed at the next meeting. The next topic Yerks discussed was Committee Presentations and asked who the Commission would like to see. Aliweyd suggested having a representative from the Housing Task Force come to talk to the Commission. Chair Leeper agreed and suggested to have this earlier in the year. Skeie said he has a transgender parent that could speak to the Commission. Chair Leeper suggested having Greg Weber speak. Aliweyd said he would like to bring in Homeline, an Eden Prairie Affordable Housing Coalition. Lucht said a representative from the Native Governance Center would be a good presentation for the Commission. Yerks suggested a representative from Hennepin County Public Health. Aliweyd left the meeting. Yerks asked the Commission for any new ideas for 2020. Some thoughts were: Yerks suggested doing a tour of PROP and said January would be a good month for this. The Commission could tour PROP and PROP Shop on the same evening. Elassar suggested having Pastor John with Hopkins Equity come into the Commission and speak. She also suggested having other Commissions come and speak to the HRDC. Chair Leeper commented it would be good to hear from the Conservation Commission and the Parks and Recreation Commission; the Commission Members agreed. It would also be good to hear from other members or Commissions as it pertains to events, such as the Census. Yerks agreed with Chair Leeper. Yerks asked the Commission if they wanted to do Iftar during Ramadan, which is April 23rd to May 23rd. Chair Leeper suggested re-visiting this in December. Lucht pointed out that when the Commission does host big events to let political representatives know so they may attend. Chair Leeper said the Commission should always invite Mark Weber and Molly Patil. Lucht asked if a joint Google document is allowed. Yerks said she would look into it. Elassar said Chain Reaction is an important partner and asked if we could have a table at that event. Yerks said this event takes place on May 14th. Elassar said in May or June the Commission should acknowledge the 100 year for women being allowed HUMAN RIGHTS & DIVERSITY MINUTES November 14, 2019 Page 5 to vote. It was also suggested to have the Subcommittee for the Native American Heritage Land Acknowledgement Statements start early. Yerks stated these items will need to be addressed at the December meeting prior to City Council presentation. They are: 1. Finalization of the events that have been previously discussed. 2. Discuss events and topics that were tabled at the November meeting and decided if they will be included in the 2020 work plan. These include: a. Culture N Motion b. Listening Session c. Partnered event with HTC d. 100th anniversary of women’s right to vote 3. Confirm which subcommittees will exist in 2020, potentially including: a. Census 2020 b. Police Community Relations c. Native American (this needs a proper title) 4. Assign roles to commissioners to make sure that each of the work plan items has a primary contact attached to them. 5. Discussion of the 2020 student led project. 6. Finalization of the PowerPoint and decide who will be presenting to Council in January. 7. Review marketing and outreach strategies going into 2020 to ensure that community members are aware of events and welcomed to attend. 8. Assessment of the overall plan for balance. Was there balance between community outreach and internal advisory goals? IX. UPCOMING MEETING A. DECEMBER 12, 2019 HUMAN RIGHTS & DIVERSITY MINUTES November 14, 2019 Page 6 X. ADJOURNMENT MOTION: Skeie moved, seconded by Shahram, to adjourn the Human Rights & Diversity Commission meeting. Motion carried 5-0. The meeting was adjourned at 9:05 pm