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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuman Rights and Diversity - 07/11/2024 APPROVED MINUTES EDEN PRAIRIE HUMAN RIGHTS & DIVERSITY COMMISSION THURSDAY, JULY 11, 2024 7:00 P.M., EDEN PRAIRIE CENTER Office of Housing and Community Services COMMISSION MEMBERS: Greg Leeper (Chair), Asad Aliweyd, Shana Bates, Samuel Griffin, Zaheer Khan, Jody Knight, Jessica Oaxaca, Brenda Pfahnl, Savannah Riese, Kuhu Singh, Philip Skeie, John Urbanski, Susan Weaver COMMISSION STAFF: Paja Xiong, Community Services Manager & Staff Liaison Julie Krull, Recording Secretary I. CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL Chair Leeper called the meeting to order at 7:06 pm. Commission members Aliweyd, Griffin, Knight, Riese, and Weaver were absent. II. INTRODUCTION OF GUESTS There were no guests. III. APPROVAL OF AGENDA MOTION: Urbanski moved, seconded by Khan, to approve the agenda. Motion carried 8-0. IV. APPROVAL OF THE JUNE 13, 2024 MEETING MINUTES Per Xiong, Riese had an edit to the minutes under Human Rights Awards, 2. Sub-Committee, sentence 5. She would like it to read, “Riese suggested reaching out to the Communication Department to see how we can market the award better and investigate what has worked in the past, such as pulling analytics on social media posts and landing page viewership from both this year and years past to help us pivot how we advertise the award in the future.” MOTION: Khan moved, seconded by Oaxaca, to approve the amended June 13, 2024 Meeting Minutes. Motion carried 8-0. V. COMMUNITY PRESENTATION There was no Community Presentation HUMAN RIGHTS & DIVERSITY MINUTES July 11, 2024 Page 2 of 5 VI. OLD BUSINESS A. DISABILITY ADVOCACY Xiong shared updates from the Park and Recreation Department regarding adaptive bikes. She said their plan is to do outreach with the disability community at the Interactive Day of Play at Miller Park and stated they would like support from the Commission. Chair Leeper commented it would be a good idea to partner with the Park and Recreation Department on Interactive Day of Play. Urbanski asked what date that would be. Xiong said it would be next summer as they want to have adaptive bikes there and they also want to have other organizations present and will need time for planning this event. Bates shared that having a table at this event would be beneficial to hear about obstacles the disability community are facing in the Community. Xiong asked Skeie to give the Commission an update on Marilyn’s TWOcan adaptive bicycles. Skeie commented it would be a good idea to have Marilyn at the Interactive Day of Play event and shared they are pretty well booked this summer. He said she would trailer in the bikes and have volunteers lined up to assist participants. Marilyn suggested having her organization come to Eden Prairie with the bikes for a few times to see if there is a need and interest in having the bikes before the City would purchase one. Oaxaca said this sounds like a great event but questioned if we want to wait a year to hear back from the adaptive community or is this something that can be done right away. Xiong said the idea of waiting a year was just in regards to a partnership with the Park and Recreation Department and pointed out the Commission can get involved in more events like PeopleFest. Chair Leeper also shared that he appreciates the work the Park and Recreation Department does and acknowledged they have a full calendar and suggested the Commission get involved with other events. Xiong said she will reach out to the Park and Recreation Department and see what their events are for the remainder of the year. Khan suggested the Commission could assist at the Splash Pad events. Skeie asked Chair Leeper about the status of the mobile changing station. Xiong said she talked to Klima in regards to the changing station and they did some research and found the cost of those to be between $5,000 and $7,000 a day. Xiong asked the Park and Recreation Department how many people attend some of their events. They responded there were approximately 300-400 people at the Pride event. Another big event would be the 4th of July and Sparkle event and they will look into the feasibility of having the changing table at this event. Skeie suggested getting sponsors to contribute to the cost of the table for the big events. Chair Leeper said that would be something to keep on our radar and look into it for next year’s 4th of July and Sparkle event. B. PEOPLEFEST! HUMAN LIBRARY BOOKS AND EVENT ADMINISTRATION 1. HRDC Volunteers Chair Leeper is looking for volunteers to work this event. He would like three Commissioners for each shift. The shifts would be from 3 – 5 pm and 5 -7 pm. HUMAN RIGHTS & DIVERSITY MINUTES July 11, 2024 Page 3 of 5 Urbanski said he would be available from 3 – 5:30 pm and Xiong said she can volunteer from 3 – 5 pm. Singh said she can work the second shift. Chair Leeper said he can fill in where needed and Bates said she would be available to work either shift. Chair Leeper asked Xiong to reach out to the Commissioners that were not in attendance at the meeting to see if they would be available to volunteer as he thought Weaver had an interest in volunteering. 2. Promotion of Human Library Xiong stated she is working with the Communication Department and said the Human Library is on the quarter sheet and pointed out the QR code can be scanned to see what books are available and that will also give a brief description of what they are all about. She also shared with the Commission when reading something online it can be translated to a different language and showed how that works. Xiong asked the Commissioners for feedback on how the quarter sheet looked. Urbanski said there should be something in there regarding that books are only checked out for 15 minutes. Xiong also showed some mock-ups for poster boards the Commission can use for advertising and also conversation guidelines for a person checking out a book. She asked for feedback about the quarter sheets versus half sheets. After some discussion the Commission felt it would be better to use half sheets to accommodate all the information included for conversation guidelines. Bates suggested including the location and times. Khan commented both sides should be used as some people do not use QR codes. Chair Leeper suggested putting the time and location on the back side. Urbanski pointed out the difference between previous years and this year is that the Commission is detailing the person more and not just the experience as have been done in previous years. Oaxaca asked how the word will get out to public besides utilizing the document. Xiong said she is working with the Communication Department on utilizing social media. Xiong also suggested all Commissioners should be interacting with the posts that will be out there and said she will notify everyone when she sends them out. Urbanski asked what the status is on the restaurant guide. Xiong said she is meeting on Monday with the committee and will send out an update to the Commission. Urbanski asked how people will get the guide. Chair Leeper said it will be available on-line and in person and will be available at all City events and also can be passed out prior. Urbanski followed up by asking if the Commissioners could be let known when they are ready so they can pick up copies and distribute them. Khan suggested taking them to stores, like the Asian Mall. C. HUMAN RIGHTS APPLICATION 1. Application Revision and Rubric Xiong updated the Commission by stating she has reached out to other cities and Edina responded back by stating that they use a rubric or grading system to score HUMAN RIGHTS & DIVERSITY MINUTES July 11, 2024 Page 4 of 5 their applications. Xiong also stated she had found her rubric and suggested having a sub-committee that could grade and weigh out the future applications. 2. Sub-Committee Chair Leeper asked for volunteers and Oaxaca, Singh and Khan offered to be on the sub-committee. Chair Leeper asked Xiong to reach out to Weaver to see if she would also be interested in participating on the sub-committee. D. PARTY FOR PRIDE Chair Leeper asked the Commissioners who attended the event to give an update. Oaxaca said it was a great event and felt there were good conversations with individuals and she commented it was fun to see people making the bracelets. Urbanski said it was small in attendance but commented there was a good mix of people. Oaxaca suggested next year to have promotional material about the HRDC. Xiong said she had previously reached out to the Communications Department and they said if we can come up with something they can make the flyers. Oaxaca also suggested a digital suggestions box. Chair Leeper said he would like to have a promotional sub-committee and asked for volunteers. Oaxaca said she would be willing to volunteer. Chair Leeper asked Xiong to reach out to Riese to see if she would also like to be on the sub-committee. VII. NEW BUSINESS A. IDEAS FOR GUEST SPEAKERS AT FUTURE HRDC MEETINGS Xiong reviewed the list of potential speakers from the last meeting. They are: 1. Cindy from the Prop Shop 2. Student group – Dare to be Real 3. Transgender and LGTBQ speaker 4. Workshop with Gateway Institute 5. City Departments focusing on the Race Equity Report and what are they doing now Xiong asked the Commission if they would like a speaker from the list to attend the August meeting. Singh suggested getting speakers to tie into what is going on for the month, for example Indigenous Heritage month. Oaxaca said she would like a speaker to come to the meeting and discuss marginalized communities. She also suggested reaching out to the Department of Human Rights to have someone speak to the Commission. Xiong responded to email her with speaker suggestions and she will follow up with them. Oaxaca commented she would also like to have someone from the City come and discuss the Race Equity Report. Bates asked about bias reports and how do they work. Chair Leeper said there historically have not been that many but when there is the HRDC is notified, this includes the Staff Liaison and the Chair. Khan said a while ago an individual approached him HUMAN RIGHTS & DIVERSITY MINUTES July 11, 2024 Page 5 of 5 regarding bias issues and what can be done. He said he was unsure and followed up with Yerks and she said the individual could reach out to her for assistance. Xiong said she will follow-up and get back to the Commissioners next month to see if there has been an update to reporting bias crimes. Singh commented it would be nice to have a City hotline to report bias incidents. Chair Leeper suggested having a speaker for the August meeting talk about DEI issues and also suggested future training on these topics. VIII. STAFF REPORT – PAJA XIONG A. RACE EQUITY ACTION TEAM (REAT) UPDATE Xiong shared with the Commission the REAT team took a field trip to the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community Cultural Center and the history was very eye opening and pointed out the artifacts are Smithsonian level and encouraged all Commissioners to go and visit. Bates asked who makes up the REAT team. Xiong responded the team is made up of a member from each City Department. Xiong said in regards to other news, the dash board is up and running on-line and is active for everyone to view. Skeie asked when the next Splash Pad event is taking place. Xiong said that will be July 23rd, from 5-7pm at Nesbitt Park. Skeie asked if the Commission is supposed to be involved in that event and Chair Leeper commented the Commissioners do not need to be involved in every event. Skeie and Khan commented they were at last year’s Splash Pad event and felt it was successful. Xiong shared she will send out an email tomorrow with Coffee with the Cops and the two Splash Pad events and will work with the Park and Recreation Department to see what the Commission’s involvement should be at these events and put it on the agenda for next month’s meeting for discussion. Khan asked Xiong if a table is needed at the Splash Pad events and if so include that in the email. Xiong said she will confirm with the Park and Recreation Department if they would like us to have a table. Singh reiterated Chair Leeper’s statement that the Commission does not need to be at every event but she commented the Commission should be there for the community and assist individuals when needed. IX. UPCOMING MEETINGS A. August 8, 2024 X. ADJOURNMENT MOTION: Skeie moved, seconded by Khan, to adjourn the Human Rights & Diversity Commission meeting. Motion carried 8-0. The meeting adjourned at 8:45 p.m.