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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuman Rights and Diversity - 09/11/2025 APPROVED MINUTES EDEN PRAIRIE HUMAN RIGHTS & DIVERSITY COMMISSION THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2025 7:00 P.M., EDEN PRAIRIE CITY CENTER Heritage Rooms 3 & 4 COMMISSION MEMBERS: Greg Leeper (Chair), Asad Aliweyd, Shana Bates, Shalanda Berry, Zaheer Khan, Jody Knight, Jessica Oaxaca, Brenda Pfahnl, Wendi Russo, John Urbanski, Susan Weaver STUDENT COMMISSION MEMBERS: Nawal Abdullahi, Omar Abdulle, Abdulrahman Ali, Jia Chenchlani, Roshini Drakshapally, Ikra Ibrahim, Shivashish Khanna, Anjolaoluwa Raimi, Gatrika Ravella 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 7:03 p.m. Commission Members Aliweyd and Knight and Student Commission Member Ali were absent. II. INTRODUCTION OF STUDENT COMMISSIONERS Chair Leeper welcomed the Student Commissioners and Xiong asked them to introduce themselves, along with the Commission Members, and to share a baseball walk-up song. III. INTRODUCTION OF GUESTS – SCOTT GERBER, EDEN PRAIRIE FIRE CHIEF Chair Leeper introduced Chief Scott Gerber to the Commission. IV. APPROVAL OF AGENDA MOTION: Bates moved, seconded by Weaver, to approve the agenda. Motion carried 9-0. V. APPROVAL OF THE AUGUST 14, 2025 MEETING MINUTES MOTION: Urbanski moved, seconded by Khan, to approve the August 14, 2025 Meeting Minutes. Motion carried 9-0. VI. COMMUNITY PRESENTATION A. EDEN PRAIRIE FIRE DEPARTMENT HUMAN RIGHTS & DIVERSITY MINUTES October 9, 2025 Page 2 of 5 Xiong introduced Chief Scott Gerber to the Commission. Chief Gerber said he has been Chief of the Eden Prairie Fire Department for the past 7 years. He stated he has been involved with public safety for the past 40 years spending time as a paramedic and accountant. Chief Gerber presented a PowerPoint presentation of the Eden Prairie Fire Department. He pointed out it was started in 1967 and was built around collaboration, integrity, and building relationships. He stated customer service and excellence are what the department strives for. There are 88 duty crew fire fighters and 20 full time staff. The duty crew staff are part-time employees that are community based with an average service time of 8.2 years and coming from various profession vocations. In 2024, a company came into the Eden Prairie Fire Department and did a standards and staffing study. The study showed the department was doing things well but did point out some things that needed fixing. All four fire stations should be staffed 24 hours a day and not just two of the stations that are staffed 24 hours a day. Chief Gerber said they do have the support of the City Council and City to get the other two stations staffed but pointed out it will be a long process as they will need 32 full time people. In regards to dispatch, it is a joint center with Eden Prairie Police and Fire. There are approximately 45,000 calls coming into the dispatch center annually. The ambulance service comes from Hennepin Health Care. He pointed out they have relationships with the Eden Prairie Police Department and their two social workers and Senior Home Services. The Senior Home Services provide such things as lift assistance. Chief Gerber gave a break down of the types of calls that came in 2024. They are as follows: • Special – 12% • Medical – 67% (this includes crashes) • Fire – 21% He stated 2 trucks are staffed at all times with 3 resources. As of today, there have been 2,844 calls for service, with the majority of those being medical calls. Most of the calls come from the Station 2 area which contains Eden Prairie Center and a large amount of senior housing. Every day there is an average of 10-12 calls the crew goes on. In regards to equipment, Chief Gerber said they have recently purchased 5 fire trucks with one coming in 2026 and one in 2027 and at that time the fleet will be completely replaced. He did state one important tool that they do have is the self-contained breathing apparatus. They also carry top of the line medical equipment such as AEDs and devices to perform CPR. Chief Gerber addressed training and stated it was a core part of the department. There was 19,896 hours of training done in 2024. The training consists of: • Recruitment training • Weekly training • Specialized training • Professional development HUMAN RIGHTS & DIVERSITY MINUTES October 9, 2025 Page 3 of 5 • Cultural competency training The Eden Prairie Fire Department also focuses on emergency management and fire prevention. The department responds to emergency calls as well as performing inspections on occupancies. This would focus on risk and hazard and such things as sprinkler systems. The department also does prevention and public education in the community. One of the demonstrations they do in the community is education on kitchen fires. In regards to Career Development, Chief Gerber said they do visit the Eden Prairie School District along with working with Hennepin Technical College to seek out recruits. They also offer mentor programs. Chief Gerber pointed out there were 4 phases of Emergency Management. He also pointed out the biggest threat to the City is weather. The phases are as follows: • Mitigation – this is what can be done to prevent threats • Preparedness – how can the department prepare for threats • Response – responding with emergency vehicles • Recovery – how to build back; this may take years Eden Prairie does have an Emergency Operations Center and that is located at Station 1. The City also has 17 outdoor warning sirens. Residents can sign up for indoor warnings with RAVE – Smart 911. Chief Gerber noted one of the questions he was given was if the Canadian wildfire smoke affects residents. He responded that is does not necessarily impact residents but to be cautious if you have health concerns. Another question was if the fire department offers water safety. Chief Gerber responded that they do not do this, that it is the Park and Recreation Department. Weaver asked if there was a significant language barrier with residents. Chief Gerber responded that it was not significant as they have bilingual firefighters and applications on phones to assist. Khan commented he was at Station 4 and did not see much diversity there and asked if there was an effort to recruit diverse individuals. Chief Gerber said currently they need to have individuals with experience and are hoping to get more diversity in the future. Chair Leeper asked in regards to diversity, what are they doing to outreach within the schools. Chief Gerber responded they do bi-annual outreach at the schools. Urbanski asked if the fire department still does safety camps. Chief Gerber stated they still do the camps every year. They take place in July and it is a two-day event. The Park and Recreation and Police Departments are involved and at that event they do address water safety. Pfahl asked if other cities offer recruitment programs. Chief Gerber said some other cities offer an explorer program but Eden Prairie does not offer it as they do HUMAN RIGHTS & DIVERSITY MINUTES October 9, 2025 Page 4 of 5 not have the resources for it. Xiong and the Commission thanked Chief Gerber for him time. VII. OLD BUSINESS A. CITY WIDE OPEN HOUSE DISCUSSION Xiong said the open house will take place on Saturday, October 4th between 10:30 am and 2:30 pm. She would like 3-4 volunteers per shift. The following volunteered for the two shifts: Shift 1 (10:30 am – 12:30 pm) Knight, Weaver, Abdulle; Shift 2 (12:30 pm – 2:30 pm) Khan, Russo, Raimi. Xiong stated this event is an open house where people can come in and learn about the City and certain departments. Every Commission will have a table there. She would like to discuss what activities the Commission would like to have at the table. She suggested the following activities: • Wheel of Questions – focus on open ended questions related to Human Rights, HRDC, and questions for the kids. There could be a snack for the correct answer. • Bracelet Making – can choose a specific word for bracelet, such as freedom, peace, justice, brave, joy, change, etc. • Polling – can ask questions regarding human rights, equity, different cultures, disabilities, or what interests you the most. Can then use clear plastic cups to put beads in. Xiong also displaced the tri-fold that was developed by the Communications Department for them to display at the table. There will also be copies of the Race Equity reports on the table. Chair Leeper asked if we are just choosing one activity or doing all three activities. Xiong asked the Commission for their thoughts. Oaxaca said trying the polling would be good for deeper engagement and suggested asking more in-depth questions as to what people are interested in. Pfahnl responded polling does make sense at this event, but also likes the other two activities. Russo pointed out there should be a cup labeled “other” and people could write their suggestions in it. Khan suggested if there are enough volunteers he would like to do all three activities but if not, he said polling for sure. Oaxaca likes the idea of doing all three activities. Chair Leeper said since there will be two tables, we should be able to do all three activities. Xiong said they will do all three activities and she will email the Commission with the details. Xiong displayed the elevator pitch and stated she will print it out for the open house. She will also send out an email to everyone to read prior. Xiong said the October meeting will focus on talking points about the HRDC. The November and December meetings will focus on the HRDC work plan; what was successful and what needs to work on. Chair Leeper reiterated the November and HUMAN RIGHTS & DIVERSITY MINUTES October 9, 2025 Page 5 of 5 December meetings will be spent planning for the year for 2026 and asked the students to think about what would be beneficial for the future. VIII. NEW BUSINESS There was no New Business this evening. XI. UPCOMING MEETINGS A. October 9, 2025 X. ADJOURNMENT MOTION: Weaver moved, seconded by Bates, to adjourn the Human Rights & Diversity Commission meeting. Motion carried 9-0. The meeting adjourned at 8:46 pm