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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuman Rights and Diversity - 11/12/2015APPROVED MINUTES EDEN PRAIRIE HUMAN RIGHTS AND DIVERSITY COMMISSION THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2015 7:00 P.M., 125 EDEN PRAIRIE CENTER Office of Housing and Human Services COMMISSION MEMBERS: PG Narayanan (Chair), Tonja Bivins, Jenny Buckland, Sana Elassar, Sandra Filardo, Connie Iacovelli, Greg Leeper STUDENT REPRESENTATIVES: Tanvi Mehta, Tala Alfoqaha, Sarah Mason, Adrienne Retzlaff, Turner Gunderson STAFF: Patricia Fenrick, Staff Jan Curielli, Recording Secretary GUEST: Becky Copper I. CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL Chair Narayanan called the meeting to order at 7:18 p.m. following an icebreaker activity led by Elassar. Mason was absent. Bivins and Alfoqaha arrived late. Filardo left early. II. APPROVAL OF AGENDA MOTION: Buckland moved, seconded by Iacovelli, to approve the agenda. Motion carried 6-0. III. APPROVAL OF MINUTES MOTION: Elassar moved, seconded by Buckland, to approve the October 8, 2015 minutes. Motion carried 6-0. IV. REPORTS OF STAFF Fenrick said her office does an annual training called “Navigating the Waters” that focuses on affordable housing. There was a lot of interest in the new homelessness in Eden Prairie. Immanuel Lutheran plans to buy a house to be used as a transitional home for homeless young people. There will be a task force formed to work with the Rotary and PROP. Narayanan asked how big the problem is. Fenrick replied the current focus is on teens because if teens are homeless, they have to be sent downtown. This can create problems because they are separated from the community. There is also a law that the School District must transport the kids back to their own school. HUMAN RIGHTS AND DIVERSITY COMMISSION MINUTES November 12, 2015 Page 2 V. OLD AND NEW BUSINESS A. Tracks in the Snow Update – November 12-December 3 Fenrick distributed copies of the Tracks in the Snow flyer and noted it has been posted in most places. There are photographs hung in the lower level of City Hall, the library, the Community Center and the Senior Center. There will be passports available at City Hall and the library with information about the event. Elassar was concerned that we need to educate people about the display because today the staff at the Community Center seemed to be confused about having the display at their facility. Fenrick said she will talk to the Community Center Manager. Fenrick said there are three special events for the public: the main event on November 19 with Valerie Shirley; a lunch and learn on November 30 at the Senior Center; and a panel lecture on November 30 at the library. She said the lunch and learn event costs $15 for the lunch. The Senior Center set up that event, but it is open to everyone. She encouraged the Commission Members to attend the events. She noted Hennepin Tech will have the exhibit come back in February at their two campuses and the Commission will be involved in that. Alfoqaha arrived at 7:27 pm. Filardo asked if staff needs help for the event on the 19th. Fenrick said she didn’t need any help, although Commission Members might want to come early to be greeters. Elassar asked what time Ms Shirley is scheduled to speak. Fenrick replied she will speak at 7:00 p.m., and there will be time for questions. Elassar asked if there would be an option to have Southwest Prime offer a low- cost tour. Fenrick said there would be a problem with that because that service operates on an individual basis. Buckland noted they have senior rates of $1.00 on certain days. Mehta said it is possible to rent a bus and driver from Southwest Transit. Fenrick said there would be a problem with getting the word out about the bus; however, she would be willing to talk to Southwest Transit about it. Bivins arrived at 7:30 pm. Elassar asked if there will be any food served at the event on November 19th. Fenrick said she could get cookies for the event which will be held in the Cambria Room at the Community Center. The photo exhibit is upstairs, and each photo has a QR code that will give more information about it. C. Capital Art Project (taken out of sequence) Fenrick said she sent information to the Commission Members concerning the recommendations regarding changes to art in the capital building. The group, HUMAN RIGHTS AND DIVERSITY COMMISSION MINUTES November 12, 2015 Page 3 Healing Minnesota Stories, made five recommendations for which they have asked our support: remove four of the most offensive pieces; find a new home for those four pieces; better interpret the remaining historic art; and add new art that will honor Minnesota’s diversity. The letter with the request for recommendation is going to all city human rights commissions. This Commission’s recommendation of support would go to the City Council for their approval so Eden Prairie can add our voice to that of other cities. Buckland asked if there are recommendations as to where the offensive art should be moved. Fenrick did not think there are. Narayanan asked why we are including the second point about finding a new home for the four art pieces. Bivins commented those art pieces are a part of Minnesota’s history. Fenrick said the images that are portrayed are not accurate in that, while they may be historically accurate, they present a skewed view of the event that happened. Elassar asked if we would give suggestions about a new home for the offensive pieces. Fenrick said we could give suggestions, but curators and art experts would probably be consulted. Elassar then asked how many metro-area cities have human rights commissions. Fenrick replied she was not sure, but Shoreview has signed on to the recommendations. They are waiting decisions from Red Wing, Edina, Bloomington and Roseville. She noted this Commission’s power in this matter is to make recommendations to the City Council. Retzlaff asked if this is the final version. Fenrick said it is a draft, and she will send out an email to the Commission with the final version. She said the Commission could come to an agreement tonight or could wait and get more information. MOTION: Filardo moved, seconded by Iacovelli, to recommend Eden Prairie participate in the letter of support with recommendations regarding changes to art in the Capitol building. Motion carried 7-0. B. Draft Work Plan and PeopleFest Draft Work Plan Fenrick distributed copies of a draft work plan for 2016 and noted we plan to have speakers come in to help educate the Commission. She asked Commission Members to send her any suggestions for speakers. She reviewed programs and projects for the work plan. She said the Commission will present the work plan to the Council in January. She suggested we schedule another Poverty Awareness workshop in January as well. She asked if anyone would want to serve on the 5K committee. Iacovelli said she planned to support that event and would like to receive any information about it. Fenrick reviewed some of the items on the draft work plan, such as making welcome folders for renters and a Peace of My Mind photography exhibit in September. Hennepin Technical College is interested in doing a joint event, possibly in September. There is a Tapestry Project started by an employee of a HUMAN RIGHTS AND DIVERSITY COMMISSION MINUTES November 12, 2015 Page 4 property management company in Mankato. The project provides an “American Life 101” where immigrants are paired up with long-time residents who would help to walk them through cultural nuances. That project would be given by the property management companies to help immigrants connect and learn. Iacovelli said that would be something she would be interested in. Fenrick said Immanuel Lutheran is really interested in that project and are starting it at Briar Hill. The program is done in English with interpreters available. They also have the Fire Department and Public Safety come in. Leeper asked how broad the focus would be. Fenrick said it is very broad. We would need a committee to work on the curriculum here in Eden Prairie and to help get tenants involved. Narayanan suggested having an in-home assistance program event where people could learn about that program and then make a recommendation to the City Council about it. He said it would be nice to have one or two items to study and present to the Council because they look to us to make recommendations. Fenrick noted some of that has been done. Last year we did a program on teen homelessness. A working group came out of that and has been meeting for a year now. Narayanan suggested we have them present to us so we can learn from the group and then present the information to the Council. Fenrick said she could send the information that has already been gathered, and the Commission could discuss it more at the next meeting. Fenrick asked for suggestions about issues that would be important for the Commission’s focus in 2016. Leeper liked the approach of picking four or five areas for the work plan. Suggestions included teen homelessness, ADA issues, and the experiences of communities of immigrants or color in Eden Prairie. Fenrick noted the community survey goes out every couple of years, and the biggest negative from the latest survey was that people don’t feel welcome in Eden Prairie. That negative item has continued to be a conversation for staff, and a working group has been formed to work on better communication. She believed we have started to do some things, but we should keep a list of concerns. Filardo suggested adding gay and lesbian issues. She said there is also a group of parents at Eagle Heights who are concerned that the Mexican community feels neglected. She suggested having a fun and friendly event and having teachers or social workers come to speak to us. Narayanan suggested getting information from more than one group and then summarizing it for the Council. Buckland commented many minority groups in the community may feel marginalized. Fenrick said we would need to do that at a high level and that would help her office with concerns about the Mexican community. Filardo asked Ms Fenrick to let her know what month would be good for one or two community members to come and talk to us. Iacovelli asked if they would come to a regular meeting or at a separate meeting. Filardo suggested asking them what they would feel comfortable with. Elassar noted there is an exhibit on LGBT that is available and that would provide a very good opportunity to show there is so much diversity within that community. Fenrick said Pride Institute in Eden Prairie is very good at dealing with this issue and could do a presentation for us. HUMAN RIGHTS AND DIVERSITY COMMISSION MINUTES November 12, 2015 Page 5 Buckland said Vail Place is very special and has a powerful message about mental health. Bivins suggested there are single people living in Eden Prairie who live a somewhat shut in life. We might reach out to them to help make us aware of that community and to have them learn about things we do. Buckland noted single woman homelessness is a very prevalent issue. Elassar said homelessness is a big issue, and we need to be aware of resources for dealing with it. Buckland said PROP supports the police initiative to help the homeless by providing beds for a night. We have a long way to go with the shelter system, so it is good to see that Immanuel is coming up with a home for homeless teens. They are trying to team with PROP Shop and the School District to get a packet together with information that the Police Department could distribute. Elassar noted human trafficking and homelessness are connected, and we might tack that issue onto the 5K event. Fenrick said she will pick some issues we are already involved in for the January meeting. It will be big picture issues that we can speak about at our meeting with the City Council. She noted our link to the City Council is our main sense of power. Elassar asked if the City Council meetings are videoed with closed captions. Fenrick was not sure. Elassar asked if PROP has a program to adopt a family for the holidays. Buckland said PROP registered over 500 people for that this week, and information about the program is on the Holiday Gifts tab on the website. She will copy everyone on the link and suggested we might want to participate as a Commission. It is $40.00 per wish, can be for either a child or a senior, and is not faith based. Fenrick asked if the consensus of the Commission was to do a wish as a group. The consensus was to do that. Buckland said she will sign up the commission on the website and will then send information about the assignment. PeopleFest Narayanan asked if everyone is happy with the name, PeopleFest. The Commission Members were happy with it. Leeper asked if the event could be held at Purgatory Creek Park on the same day as the 5K event in order to retain some of the audience. Fenrick did not think Purgatory Park is set up to do a stage-type event. Leeper suggested we promote it at the 5K event. Fenrick said she sent a second email regarding the date for the event, and noted Sunday and Friday nights are unavailable at Staring Lake. Narayanan said we would probably want it on a Saturday afternoon. Buckland noted the weather for the 5K run has been rainy and cold every year and suggested July or August might be safer for the PeopleFest event. A discussion followed regarding the date for the event. Narayanan said July 16 would be the first choice. He noted there is the big problem of money for the event, and he didn’t know what the cost would be to do the different activities at the event. Bivins asked if we could partner with Parks & Recreation. Fenrick said we could not. Bivins suggested using their historical information from the International Festivals to determine costs. A discussion followed about getting sponsors for the event. Narayanan suggested we HUMAN RIGHTS AND DIVERSITY COMMISSION MINUTES November 12, 2015 Page 6 partner with the Eden Prairie Foundation. Fenrick said they might be the fiscal sponsor for the event. Filardo suggested we should start small and then grow the event. Leeper asked if we need to come out really strong to accommodate the food vendors. Narayanan suggested partnering with churches and other organizations. Bivins noted the attendance at the last International Festival was very low. Bivins distributed a possible logo for the event. She said she was trying to determine if the subtext for the event is internationalism or community. The Commission discussed the logo and the three tag lines she proposed. Bivins said we could have “Eden Prairie presents…” and then the tag line. Retzlaff suggested we could include other communities. Gunderson asked how we would be marketing the event and if there would be information in the newspaper. Fenrick said she could give the information to the Communications Department for a press release, but the newspaper also sometimes does larger articles like the one about Tracks in the Snow. Filardo left the meeting at 9:00 p.m. Fenrick said the Commission will probably need some meetings to plan activities outside of the regular meetings. Narayanan said we also need to get outside partners and have meetings with them. Fenrick said we might ask the City for help once we have some other people on board. She will get information on the budget from past years. Retzlaff suggested asking for volunteers for the event through the volunteer coordinator at the high school. Narayanan said we would have to do that before school is out for the summer. VI. FUTURE MEETINGS/EVENTS Fenrick reminded the Commission the next HRDC meeting was pushed back to December 17. VII. ADJOURNMENT MOTION: Iacovelli moved, seconded by Buckland, to adjourn. Motion carried 6-0. Chair Narayanan adjourned the meeting at 9:10 p.m.