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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuman Rights and Diversity - 08/12/2021APPROVED MINUTES EDEN PRAIRIE HUMAN RIGHTS & DIVERSITY COMMISSION THURSDAY, AUGUST 12, 2021 7:00 P.M., EDEN PRAIRIE CITY CENTER Heritage Room COMMISSION MEMBERS: Greg Leeper (Chair), Shahram Missaghi, (Vice Chair), 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 Kristine Ruzek, Human Resources Manager I. CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL Chair Leeper called the meeting to order at 7:03 p.m. Commission Members Philmon, Aliweyd, and Mullins were absent. II. INTRODUCTION OF GUESTS Aman is considered a guest tonight because he was participating in the meeting virtually. III. APPROVAL OF AGENDA MOTION: Weaver moved, seconded by Skeie, to approve the agenda. Motion carried 7-0. IV. APPROVAL OF THE JULY 8, 2021 MEETING MINUTES MOTION: Urbanski moved, seconded by Griffin, to approve the July 8, 2021 meeting minutes. Motion carried 7-0. V. LOCAL NON-PROFIT PRESENTATION There was not a presentation this evening. VI. STAFF REPORT – MEGAN YERKS A. COMMUNITY NEWS The Eviction Moratorium is ending; there will be a number of phases to this that will begin on June 30th and will continue through October 2021. Each phase allows non-renewal of lease or eviction based on different criteria. Homeline MN HUMAN RIGHTS & DIVERSITY MINUTES August 12, 2021 Page 2 of 5 is offering weekly webinars for tenants, landlords and service providers. RentHelpMN.org is providing rent assistance. United Way 211 is the central resource for general questions. B. CITY/OHCS NEWS The RFP for the Eden Prairie Human Services Grant is now open and will close on September 17th. This is a two year grant given to local non-profit organizations. The grant currently supports 10 programs through 9 non-profits. This grant is funded by City tax dollars. C. HRDC NEWS The Citywide Open House is scheduled for October 9th at 11 am. The OHCS/HRDC will have a combined table and Yerks stated she is looking for 2-3 volunteers to staff this. It is not recommended to have the spinning wheel so the Commission will need to come up with a new activity. VII. OLD BUSINESS There was no old business. IX. NEW BUSINESS A. PEOPLEFEST! Chair Leeper said attendance was good at the opening night and asked what observations the other Commissioners had. Elassar said the Native Pride Dancers were great. Philmon introduced the dancers and there were many kids that participated. She commented she really enjoyed this event and thought it was better than last year. Griffin said it was very energetic and interactive and commented the audience seemed to enjoy the event. Weaver said she could not attend PeopleFest but was concerned how people find out about this event if they are not on the City website or Facebook. Chair Leeper said marketing can be a challenge and pointed out there were pamphlets at the Community Center and the Sun Sailor had an advertisement. Chair Leeper emphasized that word of mouth is a key piece to getting the word out. Elassar asked how people find out about the July 4th celebration, as there are a lot of people in attendance and suggested we use the same marketing tools. Chair Leeper said he thought people seek out information on the 4th of July as they know events will be taking place. Yerks said information is put out at the City Center and Community Center, Facebook and notices through Eden Prairie School’s Peachjar system. HUMAN RIGHTS & DIVERSITY MINUTES August 12, 2021 Page 3 of 5 Yerks said there are still some PeopleFest! events remaining and hopes everyone could attend some. She also said she heard good reports on the events that have been held. Chair Leeper thanked everyone for their participation. Elassar commented she had a co-worker who participated in the cooking class and enjoyed it and would like to see more of these events. B. EPREI: NEXT STEPS Chair Leeper said they will spend some time this evening discussing the Eden Prairie Race Equity Initiative in preparation for the City Council. Yerks said since the last meeting, her and Ruzek were meeting with City staff to get a lot of the prework completed. Yerks discussed next steps and the timeline. They are as follows: 1. July HRDC Meeting on July 8, 2021 - The priorities at this meeting were to assign subcommittee placements, identify City staff partners and firm up report format. Next Steps: • Yerks and Ruzek worked internally to determine City staff involved in the next stage and began outreach. • Yerks met 1:1 with the new commissioners to get subcommittee preferences determined by July 16th. • Yerks and Chair Leeper met for agenda preparation on July 27th. • Yerks sent subcommittee assignments, updated report formats and meeting information to commissioners by August 5th. • Yerks submitted a request to City communications to begin design elements of the report for review on September 9th. 2. August HRDC Meeting on August 12, 2021 – The priorities for this meeting are to confirm the report format, finalize subcommittee assignments, review recommendations and begin formulating priorities. Next Steps: • One hour subcommittee meeting to review areas of inquiry and determine priority recommendations and action steps by August 12th. Submit a report to Yerks to bring to internal staff for development by August 17th. • Yerks and Ruzek will work with City staff to review the recommendations, get input and feedback, refine or augment recommendations and action steps. Commission will remain updated via email; this will be an ongoing process. • Yerks will begin drafting the introduction and community findings sections of the report by August 26th. HUMAN RIGHTS & DIVERSITY MINUTES August 12, 2021 Page 4 of 5 3. September HRDC Meeting on September 9, 2021 – The priorities for this meeting are to review recommendations, actions steps, feedback and input from City staff. Assign roles in report creation. Review introduction chapters of reports and make recommendations for revisions. Create initial presentation plan (timing breakdown, structure, participants). Next Steps: • One hour subcommittee meeting to finalize recommendations, rationale and action steps and discuss report writing assignments by September 9th. • Create a rough draft of recommendation chapters within each subcommittee and complete subcommittee review of chapters to be submitted to Yerks by October 1st. • Yerks will make revisions to introduction and design elements by October 1st. • Yerks will compile the full report and conduct an internal review with City staff for recommendations and revisions by October 7th. • Yerks will create initial presentation format by October 7th. • Yerks will send the rough draft and presentation format to Commission by October 7th. 4. October HRDC Meeting on October 14th, 2021 – The priorities for this meeting are to review the draft report and presentation and make revision recommendations. Finalize the presentation participants and roles. Next Steps: • Yerks will make recommended revisions to the draft and slides. • Yerks will build the presentation roles, timing and final slides and will send scripting out to participant commissioners. 5. Presentation to City Council at Workshop on October 19th, 2021 – the priority is to present the final report to the City Council. Yerks pointed out tonight’s meeting is to get all the next steps completed for this meeting date. The plan is for subcommittees to put together a report of recommendations and suggested actions and submit it back to Yerks by August 17th so she and Ruzek can review and bring it to City staff for review. Then she will be bringing feedback to the September commission meeting. Commission will complete the next steps from the September meeting by October 7th, so the draft report and presentation will be reviewed at the October 14th HRDC meeting. This is only 5 days before the presentation to the City Council. The presentation will be given at the Council Workshop, which is a meeting where the Commission will give a presentation followed by comments from the Council Members. Chair Leeper pointed out the handout “Area of Inquiry” that they commissioners were given stating it is what the final report will look. He went on to say the objective for tonight is to come up with 3-5 recommendations for each area of inquiry and 3-7 action steps. HUMAN RIGHTS & DIVERSITY MINUTES August 12, 2021 Page 5 of 5 Yerks discussed the table of contents and what the final report will look like. It will include a recommendation, rationale and suggested action. Each subcommittee will have two areas of inquiries and this evening the focus will be on the “what” and September’s meeting will focus on the “why”. Urbanski asked if the subcommittee members will be present when this gets discussed by City staff. Yerks said each subcommittee can discuss this if they want a liaison at the meeting or the whole subcommittee can attend. Urbanski said he would like to hear what the City staff has to say. Chair Leeper liked that idea too but also wanted to respect everyone’s level of commitment. Yerks asked members to note that availability in their report. Elassar said Urbanski is going to be the subcommittee chairperson as she will be unavailable until the end of September. She will be giving her input until August 24th, after that time she will not be available. Yerks reiterated the deadline for the report to be emailed to her is August 17th. The report should include recommendations, action steps and availability for getting together with City staff. X. UPCOMING MEETING A. SEPTEMBER 9, 2021 XI. ADJOURNMENT MOTION: Elassar moved, seconded by Urbanski, to adjourn the Human Rights & Diversity Commission meeting. Motion carried 7-0. The meeting was adjourned at 7:58 p.m.