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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuman Rights and Diversity - 10/14/2021APPROVED MINUTES EDEN PRAIRIE HUMAN RIGHTS & DIVERSITY COMMISSION THURSDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2021 7:00 P.M., EDEN PRAIRIE CENTER Office of Housing and Community Services COMMISSION MEMBERS: Greg Leeper (Chair), Shahram Missaghi, (Vice Chair), Leslie Philmon, Sana Elassar, Philip Skeie, Asad Aliweyd, Tyler Aman, Samuel Griffin, John Urbanski, Susan Weaver STUDENT MEMBERS: Hina Kazama, Keerthana Ramanathan, Salma Awale, Shubhangi Mohan, Sophie Lunda, Zudaysi Osman COMMISSION STAFF: Megan Yerks, Staff Liaison Julie Krull, Recording Secretary I. CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL Vice Chair Missaghi called the meeting to order at 7:15 p.m. Commission Members Leeper, and Aman and Student Members Awale and Osman were absent. Chair Philmon arrived at 8:07 pm. II. INTRODUCTION OF GUESTS Christine Ruzek, HR Manager for the City of Eden Prairie, was in attendance. Weaver was participating in the meeting virtually. III. APPROVAL OF AGENDA MOTION: Skeie moved, seconded by Elassar, to approve the agenda. Motion carried 6-0. IV. APPROVAL OF THE SEPTEMBER 9, 2021 MEETING MINUTES MOTION: Urbanski moved, seconded by Griffin, to approve the September 9, 2021 minutes. Motion carried 6-0. V. LOCAL NON-PROFIT PRESENTATION There was not a presentation this evening. VI. STAFF REPORT – MEGAN YERKS A. CITY/OHCS NEWS HUMAN RIGHTS & DIVERSITY MINUTES October 14, 2021 Page 2 of 5 Eden Prairie Human Services Grant The Eden Prairie Human Services Grant RFP is closed. The grant currently supports 10 programs through 9 mon-profit organizations. $299,650 will be awarded over a two year period. The HSRC met and made recommendations and those will go before the City Council in December. B. HRDC NEWS Martin Luther King, Jr. Words in Action Contest This contest was approved by the City Manager, Rich Getschow, for the MLK Day Launch. This is a contest for kids up to age 18. Individuals will select a quote from Dr. King and express what it means through writing, art or video/audio. Up to four winners will be recognized at the February City Council meeting. Winners and finalists will be featured on the City’s social media platforms on MLK Day. Submissions are considered in two age categories, under 13 and 13 and older. Only one submission per individual and participants must reside or attend school in Eden Prairie. Yerks stated they have reached out to Foundation for sponsorship and to Eden Prairie Schools for partnership. She will also be looking for Commissioners involvement for judging and presentation to the City Council in February. VII. OLD BUSINESS A. CITYWIDE OPEN HOUSE Yerks commented that Skeie, Aliweyd, Elassar and Griffin attended this event and asked for their feedback. Skeie said he was stationed at the HRDC table and thought the day went great. Elassar said the weather was good and the spin wheel was a hit. Aliweyd commented it was an excellent event and pointed out the HRDC table attracted a lot of kids and they seemed to enjoy it. Griffin concurred the event was a success. B. PAX CHRISTI PRESENTATION: RACE EQUITY COMMITTEE Philmon, Elassar and Kazama attended this event. Elassar said they explained what the HRDC does and commented the audience seemed very interested in what was being said. Kazama commented she was impressed at how excited the group was with the HRDC work. Yerks concurred that there are many organizations that are interested in what the HRDC does and said it will increase when the Race Equity Report is made public and pointed out the Commission will be doing many more presentations. HUMAN RIGHTS & DIVERSITY MINUTES October 14, 2021 Page 3 of 5 IX. NEW BUSINESS A. WHITE PRIVILEGE PERFORMANCE Yerks explained this is a play put on at many different sites and the HRDC will be partnering with Immanuel Lutheran Church. The performance will be held on November 7th at 3 pm at the church. The play will be done in two acts and when it is completed there will be a talkback session. The HRDC Commission and PROP will have a table at this event. ROAR will be the facilitator and will be hosting the talkback session. Yerks commented she will work with the City to advertise this event. She is also looking for 2 volunteers to assist with the event. Elassar said she can help. Urbanski said he will be there for Immanuel Church and said he can assist if need be. Yerks said she will check with Kim to see if he can volunteer in a dual role. B. PAX CHRISTI PRESENTATION: JUSTICE SPEAKERS PANEL Yerks said this event will take place on November 10th from 7:00 to 8:30 pm. Joan Howe-Pullis, representing Pax Christi Catholic Church, said they would like two volunteers to help speak on race initiative. Griffin and Aliweyd offered to help with this event. Elassar said she can also be there as did Kazama and Ramanathan. Mohan said she will have to check on the date. C. WORK PLAN 2022 INTRODUCTION Yerks said in the interest of time this evening, the 2022 Work Plan will be discussed in more detail at the November and December meetings. This will be presented to the City Council in January. The 2021 Work Plan was handed out as a guide for what this will look like for the new HRDC members. D. EDEN PRAIRIE RACE EQUITY INITIATIVE 1. Discussion of Presentation Plan Yerks said the Commission is on track with this and this evening she would like to talk about a presentation plan. She stated Chair Leeper and herself discussed how the presentation should go. Chair Leeper said it should consist of 30 minutes with one workshop. Yerks pointed out the City Council will not see the report prior to the presentation. Yerks also commented that they will be engaging with City Staff at a deeper level before the presentation. The suggested presentation outline will be as follows: Introduction - 5 minutes - Chair Leeper to present Community Feedback/Findings - 7 minutes – Elassar and Kazama Recommendations - 13 minutes HUMAN RIGHTS & DIVERSITY MINUTES October 14, 2021 Page 4 of 5 (there will be 4 minutes for each sub-committee – Philmon, Urbanski, and Ramanathan. Yerks said there will be 6 areas of inquiry and to highlight one overacting thought and one recommendation per area) Implementation - 5 minutes – Griffin Yerks said she will be emailing the presenters in the next few weeks to discuss this in more detail. 2. Review of Report Draft Tonight Yerks said she would like to discuss next steps. She commented this is information on what happens after the report goes to the City Council. The three paragraphs she had written were sent to Rick Getschow for approval and he said it looked good. Yerks read the Next Steps to the Commission and asked for their input. Vice Chair Missaghi asked who does the implementation. Yerks said that would go through her; but there may be times when it is up to the HRDC to implement. Yerks asked if the updates should be every 6 months. Vice Chair Missaghi asked if there is more money in the budget to facilitate steps for this. Yerks said that can be done through the City. An example would be hiring a new Park and Recreation person. Vice Chair Missaghi clarified he meant if Yerks would get another person to help. Yerks said she would not be getting another person to help her. Urbanski asked how the Staff will update the HRDC. Yerks said City Staff and Ruzek will go through her and she will act as the liaison. She stated some of the initiatives could end up on specific departments work plans. Urbanski thought the last paragraph in the Next Steps should be more specific. Vice Chair Missaghi asked how the review process works. Yerks said it is a tracking progress as a whole but will ultimately end up with Rick Getschow for the final review. Ruzek said the process came about because the City Council asked the City Manager to start this initiative and so Mr. Getschow turned around and reached out to the Commission. As City Staff they will take the report with recommendations and work on goals. Yerks commented in other cities they have hired a Race Equity individual. Eden Prairie has chosen to have each department carry responsibility for implementing this. She also said she will add the context of the summary report to the Next Steps and that there will be a 6 month report and periodic updates. Elassar suggested the City-Wide Goals should be discussed in the Introduction, along with the City of Eden Prairie Values. Yerks presented 4 pie charts on demographics and asked the Commission how they should be displayed to show flow/growth. Skeie suggested using a table. Yerks said the goal is a higher level view of demographics over time and thought a table may be too big for the report but she can add it to the Appendix. Urbanski suggested including a word survey for the last two items in the Appendix; Eden Prairie Equity and Inclusion Summary Report and Results by Race. HUMAN RIGHTS & DIVERSITY MINUTES October 14, 2021 Page 5 of 5 Yerks suggested the Commission break up into their groups for discussion. The groups should be reviewing overlapping recommendations, making sure each area of inquiry needs a theme and featured recommendation and review rationales. The biggest priority is to make sure recommendations are properly represented. X. UPCOMING MEETING A. NOVEMBER 11, 2021 XI. ADJOURNMENT MOTION: Philmon moved, seconded by Aliweyd, to adjourn the Human Rights & Diversity Commission meeting. Motion carried 7-0. The meeting was adjourned at 8:44 p.m.