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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuman Rights and Diversity - 03/14/2024 APPROVED MINUTES EDEN PRAIRIE HUMAN RIGHTS & DIVERSITY COMMISSION THURSDAY, MARCH 14, 2024 7:00 P.M., EDEN PRAIRIE CENTER Office of Housing and Community Services COMMISSION MEMBERS: Greg Leeper (Chair), Asad Aliweyd, Sana Elassar, Samuel Griffin, Zaheer Khan, Christine Kleckner, Jody Knight, Brenda Pfahnl, Kuhu Singh, Philip Skeie, John Urbanski, Susan Weaver STUDENT COMMISSION MEMBERS: Tamia Hassan, Jude Kambal, Kanya Karthic, Shivangi Mohan, Navya Nambiar, Madeline Wilson, Kiana Poul, Sudiksha Talla COMMISSION STAFF: Jonathan Stanley, Staff Liaison Julie Krull, Recording Secretary I. CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL Chair Leeper called the meeting to order at 7:03 p.m. Commission Members Aliweyd, Elassar, Griffin, Khan, Kleckner and Student Members Nambiar, Wilson and Poul were absent. II. INTRODUCTION OF GUESTS David Teigland and Arielle Mathre were in attendance this evening. III. APPROVAL OF AGENDA MOTION: Weaver moved, seconded by Pfahnl, to approve the agenda. Motion carried 6-0. IV. APPROVAL OF THE FEBRUARY 8, 2024 MEETING MINUTES Because there was no quorum at the beginning of the meeting, the minutes were approved after the Community Presentation. MOTION: Skeie moved, seconded by Urbanski, to approve the February 8, 2024 Meeting Minutes. Motion carried 7-0. V. COMMUNITY PRESENTATION – PRESENTATION ON ELECTION JUDGES WITH DAVID TEIGLAND, CITY CLERK AND ARIELLE MATHRE, ELECTIONS SPECIALIST HUMAN RIGHTS & DIVERSITY MINUTES March 14, 2024 Page 2 of 5 Stanley introduced David Teigland, City Clerk and Arielle Mathre, Elections Specialist and said they will be talking about the process for getting involved in the community working as election judges. Mr. Teigland said the City would like to get a more diverse pool of judges so that they can have an accurate representation of Eden Prairie. He discussed the calendar pointing out that March 5th is the Presidential Primary Nomination, April 30th is the Hennepin County District 6 Commissioner Special Primary Election and May 14th is the General Election. August 13th will be the State Primary and November 5th will be the Presidential General Election. He said they are expecting a heavy turnout, but also, they have good absentee ballot turnout. In regard to election judges, he said they are looking for a qualified diverse group of individuals. Some of the restrictions to be an election judge are that you have to be 18 years old, be eligible to vote in Minnesota, and be able to read and write and speak English. An applicant cannot serve in the same precinct as a relative running for office. Eden Prairie has 20 precincts in 18 locations. The time commitment would be three hours of training prior to Election Day. On Election Day there will be three shifts: 6 am-2 pm, 2 pm-10 pm, and 6 am-10 pm (all day commitment). The polls will close at 8 pm, but if an individual is in line at that time they are able to vote. The precincts should have a mix of judges from the recognized major parties: Democratic-Farmer-Labor (DFL), Republican, and Legal Marijuana NOW. An election judge does not need to declare party affiliation. Student election judges can participate when they are 16 years old and must be a US citizen. Mr. Teigland said if any of the student commissioners are interested they can coordinate via a school program or apply directly with the City. They will perform the same duties as the adult judges but with limited exceptions, just as tasks requiring party balanced pairs of workers. Mr. Teigland also said they are especially interested in hiring bilingual and multilingual applicants. He shared the following links with the Commission. • Eden Prairie Election Judge application – https://www.edenprairie.org/city- government/elections/election-judges (or google Eden Prairie election judge) • MN Secretary of State – https://mnvotes.gov • Hennepin County Elections – https://hennepin.us/elections Urbanski asked if an individual is in line around closing time who would enforce the time limit. Mr. Teigland said a worker will stand at the end of the line. Skeie asked if there have ever been any problems at the polls. Mr. Teigland said there has not but they do staff the workers with walkie talkies and the police will also be available and some of the churches will hire their own private security. He also said there will be at least 12-14 staff per polling place. Stanley asked how the City plans on engaging people to vote. Mr. Teigland said they plan to talk about it at PeopleFest and also word of mouth. Chair Leeper thanked the guests for attending. VI. OLD BUSINESS A. BLACK HISTORY MONTGH WORDS IN ACTION CONTEST Stanley said there were only 10 entries this year compared to 27 last year. One of the reasons may be that they did not use Peach Jar. There were 3 winners and 3 honorable mentions selected. Stanley thanked Kambal and Khan for their help with the contest and stated the awards process at the City Council went very well. Weaver asked how small this will get before it gets insignificant. Stanley said there is not a defined threshold but suggested next year perhaps Peach Jar could be reevaluated to get the word out. HUMAN RIGHTS & DIVERSITY MINUTES March 14, 2024 Page 3 of 5 B. HUMAN RIGHTS AWARDS KICKOFF, CRITERIA AND NOMINATIONS Stanley said they currently have two nominations for the Human Rights Awards. The first one is in the Individual Category and it is Leslie and Mark Swiggum. They were nominated by Susan Weaver. They are retired teachers who have made their mission to educate adults and youths about racism, white supremacy and the Civil Rights era. The second nomination was in the Non-Profit Category with Choice, Inc., & Presbyterian Homes (Flagstone) being nominated by resident Michelle Veith. Both of these are non- profit organizations that work toward inclusivity and personal independence, as well as general well-being for older adults to live well. Chair Leeper said the deadline for nominations is March 29th. He asked for one nomination each from the Commissioners and Students. He said they are looking to have three nominations for each category and asked Stanley if he could make sure there is an extra push through social media. Weaver asked if City employees or departments could be nominated and Chair Leeper said no, as it was a conflict of interest. C. IFTAR FUNDRAISING AND LOGISTICS Stanley commented there is still a lot to do before this event takes place. He said he is looking for volunteers for the event. The menu will need to be scaled back due to the lack of funding. He said they have enough food but are short on beverages and cutlery. He also said he will send out a list of tasks. Chair Leeper asked how short they are for beverages. Stanley said about $300-$400. Chair Leeper asked about the invitations and who will be invited. Stanley said they will be inviting the same people as last year and will get them out as soon as possible. Stanley said this event will take place on March 26th at 6:45 pm in the Garden Room. At 7:45 the meal will be served and the event will be completed around 8:45 pm. D. DISABILITY UPDATE Stanley said in regard to the Capital Improvement Program he was told that the Human Rights and Diversity Commission should look into fund raising or donations to raise the money. Chair Leeper asked Stanley to explain more about the Capital Improvement Program. Stanley said to his knowledge it is a two-year program and is usually tailored to the more capital project intensive departments such Parks and Recreation and Public Works Department. Urbanski asked if the Commission could work through the Parks and Recreation Department to get the funding and Stanley said he would look into that. Skeie said he did not understand why this is not a City issue versus a department issue. Urbanski would like to know when the Parks and Recreation Department does their Capital budgeting and asked to get the Commission’s ask in there. Skeie asked if the Commission could share this with the City Council. Stanley said he was not sure what the best mechanism would be to move this forward but that as residents and commission members they have the ability if they so choose to reach out to elected officials or department heads. HUMAN RIGHTS & DIVERSITY MINUTES March 14, 2024 Page 4 of 5 VII. NEW BUSINESS A. HRDC START TIME & VIRTUAL MEETING ATTENDANCE Stanley said having the meeting time changed to 6:30-8:30 would be fine but the City Council announces the times and date for the City Commissions in January so this will have to wait until next year. Urbanski suggested waiting until this can be discussed with the new Commissioners to gauge their preferences, which will be next month. Stanley said there will be no longer be a virtual / hybrid attendance option at HRDC meetings. B. UPCOMING SPEAKERS Stanley announced that Justin Page of the Minneapolis DOJ Office will be speaking at the April HRDC meeting. He will be discussing the filing of complaints under the ADA, Fair Housing Act and the Civil Rights Act. Urbanski asked if there is a time limit for when speakers come in to talk to the Commission. Stanley said typically they should be speaking for 30 minutes and there will be time allowed for questions afterwards. C. PEOPLEFEST! HRDC ACTIVITIES Stanley said he attended the pre-meeting to the official kickoff meeting. The questions posed for the HRDC are as follows: • Does the Commission want to do the Human Library again? • Should there be adjustments to the printed guide—particularly the restaurant listings section--or should the guide just be available online? • Are there any other new activities the Commission would like to do? Chair Leeper said PeopleFest takes place at the end of July but planning needs to start soon. He said besides the Human Library and participation in the coordination of the brochure, the Commission members are asked to attend the party for this event. Chair Leeper asked the Commission if they would like to continue doing the Human Library. Singh said we definitely should do the Human Library as it appears to be a big draw to the event. The Commission agreed that it should be kept. Weaver suggested getting better signage and Chair Leeper agreed. In regards to the PeopleFest Guide, Chair Leeper asked the Commission if this is something to keep doing and if so what updates are needed. Singh asked how much money is spent on this brochure and feels it just ends up in the recycle bin. Weaver suggested using the leftover brochures from last year. Urbanski pointed out that half of the pamphlet is regarding heritage and asked what that commission feels about the brochure. Stanley explained if they did not print the brochure, it would still be available virtually. Singh suggested just making a sheet of the restaurants and including the QR code for people to view the full digital version versus having a whole brochure. Chair Leeper suggested if the HUMAN RIGHTS & DIVERSITY MINUTES March 14, 2024 Page 5 of 5 Commission decides to keep the brochure to just run fewer this year. Weaver said in regard to the entertainment she knows of some different groups that would like to participate. VIII. STAFF REPORT – JONATHAN STANLEY A. STAFFING UPDATE Stanley shared with the Commission that the process for hiring a new Housing & Community Services Manager is ongoing. B. RACE EQUITY ACTION TEAM (REAT) Stanley stated the next meeting will be on April 15th and they will focus on cultural education and identifying opportunities to increase the cultural competency of all City employees. Chair Leeper asked if there was a lead for this group as Yerks was previously the apparent leader. Stanley responded that Julie Klima has been the primary staff person responsible since Yerk’s departure. Chair Leeper asked Stanley to send out all of the nominee information for the Human Rights Awards to the Commissioners. Chair Leeper asked how many new Commissioners there will be at the next meeting. Stanley said there will be three new Commissioners and Kleckner will not be returning. IX. UPCOMING MEETINGS A. APRIL 11, 2024 X. ADJOURNMENT MOTION: Urbanski moved, seconded by Weaver, to adjourn the Human Rights & Diversity Commission meeting. Motion carried 7-0. The meeting adjourned at 8:37 p.m.