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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuman Rights and Diversity - 11/08/2012APPROVED MINUTES EDEN PRAIRIE HUMAN RIGHTS AND DIVERSITY COMMISSION THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2012 7:00 P.M., 125 EDEN PRAIRIE CENTER Office of Housing and Human Services COMMISSION MEMBERS: Pam Spera (Chair), Robert Rozanski (Vice Chair), Gayle Sanders, PG Narayanan, Zina Nourkadi, Hans Gustafson, and Laura Kaczmarek STAFF: Molly Koivumaki, Manager - Housing and Community Services; Heidi Wojahn, Recorder STUDENT REPRESENTATIVES: Camrie Vlasak, Kristina Busch, Jamie Bernard GUESTS: Paula Rylander, Olivia Urbanski, Val Eliasen, Maggie Davis, Sydney Seelig I. CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL Chair Spera called the meeting to order at 7:03 p.m. Commissioners Gustafson, Kaczmarek, and Narayanan and Student Representative Bernard were absent. Several guests were in attendance as a requirement for a class in which they are enrolled. II. APPROVAL OF AGENDA MOTION: Rozanski moved, seconded by Sanders, to approve the agenda. Motion carried 4-0. III. MINUTES MOTION: Rozanski moved, seconded by Nourkadi, to approve the September 13, 2012 minutes. Motion carried 4-0. IV. NEW BUSINESS None V. REPORTS FROM STAFF A. HUMAN SERVICES REVIEW COMMITTEE (HSRC) Did not meet - no report. HUMAN RIGHTS AND DIVERSITY COMMISSION MINUTES November 8, 2012 Page 2 B. BIAS CRIME ACTIVITY STATUS Koivumaki received a bias crime report from the police department, but the incident turned out to be unfounded and was dismissed. C. OTHER REPORTS FROM STAFF 1. Experience as an Election Judge Koivumaki received election judge training from the City Clerk. She worked at Precinct 12 at the library. It was a very interesting experience, and she was amazed by the number of people who don’t register until the day of the election. A challenger was on hand to observe and challenge. Spera asked what the role of the challenger is. Koivumaki replied there are certain requirements they must follow and challenges may only be made based on personal knowledge that someone is not eligible to vote. The challenger at her assigned precinct stood in back of the registration table. 2. Power Point Presentation Koivumaki is a member of the League of Minnesota Human Rights Commissions (LMHRC). The League celebrated its 40-year anniversary in 2011 for which Koivumaki and others developed a PowerPoint taking a look back at changes occurring during that time frame on a national, state, and league level. The past 40 years saw many changes. It started in the 1970s with the 26th amendment. People argued if people were old enough to be drafted they were old enough to vote. The voting age subsequently changed from 21 to 18. Title IX allowed women equal access to educational programs and activities and had a huge impact on athletics in particular. Support for the Equal Rights Amendment was strong during this time period. Thirty-eight states were needed to ratify the amendment. In 1977, Indiana was the 35th and last state to ratify the amendment. The deadline on the ratification process expired and it never did pass. The Antiwar Movement caused a lot of change opening ways of civic engagement which hadn’t happened before. The Environmental Movement saw the first clean water and clean air acts as well as Earth Day. School desegregation brought about court-ordered bussing, desegregated schools, and mandatory bilingual education for school districts with a majority of Latinos. Treaty Rights became a big movement. A 71-day standoff at Wounded Knee in South Dakota between federal agents and American Indians resulted in cases being dismissed due to charges of misconduct. It was good in that it forced changes in law enforcement procedures. There was also an American Indian movement to reoccupy Alcatraz Island after it was no longer used as a federal prison. Watergate generated significant human rights advantages and had a positive impact on the Freedom of Information Act. The Ford Administration didn’t want to allow people access to government records and information, but Republicans and Democrats in Congress banded together to force the act. The veto was overruled and the Freedom of Information Act was amended. HUMAN RIGHTS AND DIVERSITY COMMISSION MINUTES November 8, 2012 Page 3 The U.S. opened its doors to refugees who assisted in the Vietnam War efforts and, as a result, Minnesota started to see a wave of non-European immigration beginning with Southeast Asians in 1975. In Willmar, MN, eight females went on strike after the bank president told them “We’re not all equal you know” in response to their objections about inequality in pay between male and female employees. Although the Willmar 8 did not win their case in the Supreme Court, the issue gained attention and pay equity changes directly related to labor started to come about. The Pacer Center, a non-profit coalition, opened in 1978. It educates parents of kids with disabilities about their rights and responsibilities. The Minnesota Human Rights Act, formerly known as the Minnesota Act against Discrimination, extended its focus on employment discrimination to include prohibition on discrimination in housing, public service, and education, etc. LMHRC formed in 1971. Section 8 Housing and Corrections issues were taken up by the League. The 1980s was the decade of firsts. The first American woman in space was Sally Ride. The first female Supreme Court Justice, Sandra Day O’Connor, was appointed. Day O’Connor initially had difficulty obtaining an attorney position in a law firm and settled for a secretarial position. The first observation of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day occurred. The movement started in 1968, but it was not until 1983 that President Reagan signed it into law. New Hampshire and Arizona initially didn’t observe the holiday, and the Super Bowl site selection committee ruled they wouldn’t allow Arizona to hold the 1992 Super Bowl unless they observed the holiday. Legislature couldn’t be convinced so the NFL pulled the Super Bowl from Arizona. It passed the subsequent year and Arizona was awarded the 1996 Super Bowl. The 1980s saw the first appearance of AIDS and the discrimination that went along with it. The Minnesota AIDS project was established. The Hormel P-9 Strike of 1985-86 in Austin, MN was devastating for the community. The National Guard was called in to keep the peace because of labor issues, one being the most dangerous processing jobs were held primarily by immigrants in a particular part of the complex. There was a different demographic for other processing jobs. There was an influx of Russian immigrants. Prairie Meadows, which is now nearly all Somali residents, was at one time almost all Russian immigrants. Many have since moved to the northern suburbs and the Shakopee area. The Indian Gaming Regulatory Act passed in 1988 to protect American Indians from other gaming operations. On a state level, the State of Minnesota offered training for a no-fault grievance resolution process. Local commissions had the authority to hear grievances and take action. In the 1990s, the Americans with Disabilities Act passed. Businesses installed ramps and special door handles for the handicapped. Tax breaks were an incentive for companies modifying for access. Nelson Mandela and the Decline of Apartheid were significant. The collapse of the Soviet Union and end of the Cold War occurred. Rwanda genocide was the Khmer Rouge of the 1990s. In 100 days, 800,000 people were murdered due to hate. Bombings of the World Trade Center HUMAN RIGHTS AND DIVERSITY COMMISSION MINUTES November 8, 2012 Page 4 and Oklahoma City took place. Internet Gopher, the predecessor to the http browser, was invented 1991. The Gopher protocol and viewer application developed at the University of Minnesota provided the ability to share documents. This is significant because the human rights movement was brought to life via the internet. In Minnesota, the Somali population started to increase significantly in 1994. LMHRC focused on hate crimes response and eventually shifted its focus from enforcement to education. The 2000s saw the September 11th terrorist attacks which ultimately led to the creation of the Transportation Security Administration. Hurricane Katrina exposed how municipalities can build poverty into their communities in the way the roads and infrastructures are built. Nancy Pelosi became the first female Speaker of the House 90 years after the first female member of the House, Barack Obama became the first African American president, and Mee Moua was the first Hmong woman to become a legislator. The first commemoration of the Dakota march took place. A Dakota community was forced to move by marching in a four-mile long line of people in the cold. Many lost their lives in the process. The League kept its focus on education, but concentrated its focus on immigration education. Some of the issues it expects to see in the future are immigration, demand for equity (Occupy movement), marriage status equality, impact of social media, and bullying prevention. Rozanski asked why the Patriot Act was not covered. Koivumaki said there was a lot of information worthy of inclusion that didn’t make it in, but Rozanski raises a valid point. Spera thanked Koivumaki for her presentation. 3. Best Buy Grant $5.10 remaining. VI. OLD BUSINESS A Compassionate City update was postponed due to Kaczmarek’s absence. Spera addressed the HRDC work plan soliciting ideas for what items the Commission wants to accomplish before summer and inquired if the conflict resolution process was still shelved. Koivumaki said perhaps it is time to revisit this. It was originally sought out as a way to engage people with cultural differences to share viewpoints and resolve conflict. Spera asked if the same types of recurring problems are being seen. Koivumaki said some of it was prompted by upset at the high school, but she is not getting complaints like she used to. She asked the student commissioners if they were seeing a lot of division between Somalis and other groups at the high school. Busch said there isn’t really any fighting and students do interact, but there is a tendency for them to find comfort in hanging out with others who look similar to themselves. Vlasak said it is very cliquey with different groups hanging out in certain spots along walls. It is crowded but HUMAN RIGHTS AND DIVERSITY COMMISSION MINUTES November 8, 2012 Page 5 not intimidating. Nourkadi proposed commissioners take a more effective, proactive approach by going out into the community and doing site visits to start discussions with people who feel they are different but have their own place to gather rather than waiting for police reports. They can share, listen, ask questions, and learn with civilized dialogue. Spera agreed this was a good plan. Koivumaki offered to research what some of those places might be and add them to the work plan (Chinese School, New American Academy (Somali tutoring), etc.). Nourkadi suggested the Arabic school. Koivumaki will talk to the city manager about this tomorrow and start to develop a list. She asked commissioners to send her additional ideas. She also needs to investigate what this would mean in terms of the normal commission meeting schedule and public meeting status. Rozanski said it would likely only be a couple of commissioners versus the whole commission and asked if there are limitations as to what can be said or done. Koivumaki replied that would depend on whether the individuals are representing themselves as commissioners or private citizens. Spera brought up the recent City directive for the Commission to stay out of the marriage amendment. Koivumaki stated it was unlike the domestic registry in because the amendment was a ballot issue. Spera asked commissioners to continue thinking about ideas for the work plan going forward. VII. REPORTS FROM COMMISSION MEMBERS Sanders reported her resignation from HRDC due to an upcoming move. She will be leaving the Eden Prairie area to reside at her lake cabin. Koivumaki will report this to the city manager to determine whether or not to fill Sanders’ seat in the interim or wait until the next term begins in the spring. VIII. FUTURE MEETINGS/EVENTS The next HRDC meeting will be Thursday, December 13, 2012, 7 p.m. at Eden Prairie Center, Room 125. IX. ADJOURNMENT MOTION: Rozanski moved, seconded by Sanders, to adjourn. Motion carried 4-0. Chair Spera adjourned the meeting at 8:36 p.m.