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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuman Rights and Diversity - 06/10/2021APPROVED MINUTES EDEN PRAIRIE HUMAN RIGHTS & DIVERSITY COMMISSION THURSDAY, JUNE 10, 2021 7:00 P.M., EDEN PRAIRIE CENTER Community Room COMMISSION MEMBERS: Greg Leeper (Chair), Shahram Missaghi, (Vice Chair), Katherine Lucht, Leslie Philmon, Sana Elassar, Philip Skeie, Asad Aliweyd, Tyler Aman, Samuel Griffin, Michael Mullins, John Urbanski, Susan Weaver COMMISSION STAFF: Megan Yerks, Staff Liaison Julie Krull, Recording Secretary I. CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL Chair Leeper called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Commission Members Missaghi, Elassar, Aliweyd, Aman, and Mullins were absent. II. INTRODUCTION OF GUESTS Lee Wenzel arrived during the discussion of Old Business. III. APPROVAL OF AGENDA MOTION: Lucht moved, seconded by Weaver, to approve the agenda. Motion carried 6-0. IV. APPROVAL OF THE MAY 13, 2021 MEETING MINUTES MOTION: Urbanski moved, seconded by Skeie, to approve the May 13, 2021 minutes. Motion carried 6-0. V. LOCAL NON-PROFIT PRESENTATION – CADEX HERRERA, FIRST PERSON PLURAL Cadex Herrera had to cancel the presentation. Yerks said that Mr. Herrera has been contracted by the City to do a public art project and it is called First Person Plural. Mr. Herrera is looking for participants for this project. This will be displayed at Purgatory Creek and it will portray the life of immigrants from the participant’s perspective. There will be a web page for this and the unveiling will be in August. It is unknown if the City will be retaining the art after this display. Yerks HUMAN RIGHTS & DIVERSITY MINUTES June 10, 2021 Page 2 of 4 asked if any of the commissioners would like to participant and if so to let her know. She commented that he currently has 3 to 4 completed. VI. STAFF REPORT – MEGAN YERKS A. HRDC NEWS Yerks said the student commissioners have completed their terms and are no longer with the Commission. She said there will be a new group coming in as a Student Commissioners Review meeting was held. The HRDC will get 6 new students in September. Juniors and seniors can participate and they do give preference to seniors as it is their last year. The HRDC will have 4 seniors and 2 juniors. Yerks pointed out because of the amount of people on this Commission, the thought would be to move the meetings to the Heritage room at the City Center. The Airport Commission has their meetings the same time so it may be an issue but options are being looked at. Yerks reminded the Commission of the Banquet in July and that it would be an opportunity to see the old students. Yerks announced that Commissioner Limaye has resigned from the Commission due to personal obligations. Also, Commissioner Lucht will also be resigning because she has found a new home outside of Eden Prairie. She will be on the Commission until the end of July. Chair Leeper thanked her for all of her work; the other commissioners concurred with Chair Leeper. VII. OLD BUSINESS A. EPREI: COUNCIL WORKSHOP Yerks stated at the update on Race Equity Initiative to the City Council they were very much appreciative of the work the Commission has done. Skeie said the Council Members asked many detailed questions and the conversation was very good. He also said he will be interested in how the data is analyzed as it is hard to quantify. Yerks said a report should be back to her in a few weeks and her and Christine will review it and then bring it to the Commission for discussion. After that, it will go back to the consultants for follow up and then brought to the City Council Workshop in August. B. EPREI: LISTENING SESSION DEBRIEF Yerks said this was the last session. Aliweyd had facilitated this for the Somali Community. The same protocol was in place as the other listening sessions. There were 10 participants that were involved and Yerks said it went very well. Urbanski also concurred with Yerks that it was a very good session. C. HUMAN RIGHTS AWARDS HUMAN RIGHTS & DIVERSITY MINUTES June 10, 2021 Page 3 of 4 Yerks commented Griffin and Skeie were in attendance for this event which was held on Tuesday, May 18th from 7 to 9 pm at the City Center at the City Council meeting. Skeie said the evening went very good and was well organized. Griffin said he was impressed by representation, especially the students. IX. NEW BUSINESS A. STOP THE TRAFFICKING 5K Yerks said they are currently out of t-shirts for this event and they are on backorder. She pointed out this year has been the highest attending yet. Packet pickup was today and it happened with a drive-thru at Grace Church. The event will take place at Purgatory Creek this Saturday, June 12th. There is also a virtual option. B. PEOPLEFEST! Yerks said this will not be the big event as in past years but will be a series of smaller events. The HRDC will be putting together a dining and retail guide along with landmarks. She said the Commission will be responsible for the content of the brochure. This brochure will be a guide for people wanting to participate in PeopleFest! There will be a graphic designer that will be putting it all together. The intent is to give local perspectives on restaurants in Eden Prairie. Yerks said she put together a framework of places that can be gone through tonight and other places can also be added. The spirit of PeopleFest! is a celebration of culture, so Yerks focused on smaller family owned restaurants that have a cultural theme attached to it. Chair Leeper said we should select 8-10 restaurants and write a short paragraph on each. He said we should start by firming up the list and decide which restaurants each commissioner wants to focus on. Yerks said she picked the restaurants if they had a history in Eden Prairie and/or a connection to the PeopleFest mission. The commissioners went through the list and discussed what interested them. There are some chains that are on the list but that is because they have a connection to the mission of PeopleFest. The restaurants on the list include: Smokin’ Hotdish, Teque Arepa, Mirror or Korea, Lotus Leaf, Naf Naf Grill, Bombay Pizza Kitchen, Godavari, Bay Leaf Indian Cuisine, Eden Vietnamese Restaurant, Aurelia’s Authentic Mexican Food, Pizza Karma, Indian Palace, Red Moon, el Burrito Mexican Grill, Detello’s, India Spice House, Greek Grill and Fry Co, Baker’s Ribs, Osaka, Mi Pueblo, Great Mandarin, Red Savoy Pizza, Kyoto Sushi, Campiello, India Market. The retail places on the list are Eden Prairie Halal, Deqdeq Halal Market, Asian Mall (which will be in the old Gander Mountain building), and Indian Markets. HUMAN RIGHTS & DIVERSITY MINUTES June 10, 2021 Page 4 of 4 Yerks said she will let the restaurants and retail shops know about this so they have the opportunity to opt out. There will be a printed version of this and also an electronic version. Skeie asked if some of the restaurants would be upset if no commentary was listed next to them. Yerks said that is why a few sentences should be written for all; the commentary can be by the business itself and/or a commission member. There will also be a link to go to the restaurants directly for more information. There will be more flexibility to have more comments on the virtual copy versus printed copy. Yerks said the printed copy should contain the following information; name, phone number, website, address, cuisine type and recommended dish and any additional information that can be included in the virtual copy. Yerks said the Commission needs to decide on a title for this. She said she has been discussing this with the Communications department and besides restaurants, retail and landmarks will be included. Yerks said the historical society is working on the landmark portion of this. Urbanski suggested PeopleFest! Guide to Culture and Cuisine. Chair Leeper said he liked that title. Yerks said Eden Prairie should be included somewhere in the title. She will run this by the historical society to see if they like this idea. Yerks pointed out there will be homework for the commissioners. She would like each person to go to the list and put their name by the restaurants they will be reviewing. She said it would be nice to have a recommended dish, cuisine type and a comment for each restaurant and the restaurants also need to be reached out to. Yerks said this needs to be completed by June 30th so they can get the information to the designer. Chair Leeper asked about the retail places. Yerks said she will have to ask Elassar about the Indian Markets. Yerks reiterated the end of the year Commission Banquet will be July 15th. Chair Leeper commented invitations should be coming in the mail. Yerks asked for a volunteer this Saturday morning, 6-6:30 am, to transport water for the run. Contact her directly if you are available. X. UPCOMING MEETING A. JULY 8, 2021 XI. ADJOURNMENT MOTION: Philmon moved, seconded by Weaver, to adjourn the Human Rights & Diversity Commission meeting. Motion carried 6-0. The meeting was adjourned at 8:48 p.m.