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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuman Rights and Diversity - 09/08/1998 APPROVED MINUTES EDEN PRAIRIE HUMAN RIGHTS AND DIVERSITY COMMISSION TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 1998 7:00 PM, CITY CENTER Prairie Rooms A & B 8080 Mitchell Road COMMISSION MEMBERS: Brad Behrends, Richard Helzel, Harry Moran, Vicki Pellar-Price, Darryl Stanton, Gloria Winans, and Munna Yasiri YOUTH REPRESENTATIVES: Sopanha Te CITY COUNCIL STAFF: Michael Barone, Sr. Personnel Coordinator, and Jan Nelson, Recording Secretary I. ROLL CALL Vice Chair Behrends called the meeting to order at 7:05 P.M. Stanton, Winans, Yasiri and Te were absent. II. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Behrends said we will move item V.C. ahead of item IV. MOTION: Helzel moved, seconded by Moran, to approve the Agenda as published. Motion carried 4-0. III. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF AUGUST 11, 1998 MEETING MOTION: Moran moved, seconded by Pellar-Price, to approve as published the Minutes of the August 11, 1998 meeting. Motion carried 3-0-1, with Helzel abstaining. IV. OLD BUSINESS C. Presentation by Kate Garwood, Southwest Metro Transit to Address Vision 2001 process of"Preserving and Enhancing the Job Base" Barone said he asked Len Simich or Kate to attend the meeting tonight to address the topic of Reverse Commute agencies. Kate Garwood said they have operated a Reverse Commute program since 1992 when they realized that businesses needed more people. They now work with Human Rights and Diversity Commission Minutes September 8, 1998 Page 2 about 75-85 businesses. They work with three parts: Job Banks (the Minneapolis NET agencies), businesses that recognize how much they can mine the inner City for jobs; and SouthWest Metro to provide the link to the jobs. They recently restarted the 2nd and 3rd shift buses after receiving a grant from the Welfare-to-Work program. She thought they have common ground with the Commission on issues of diversity. Pellar-Price thought businesses should have the training given to Commission members on diversity in the workplace. Garwood said some of the smaller companies that grow fast often have problems. She said they have all kinds of barriers to getting people out here for jobs, and they try to deal with each problem as it occurs. For example, they started a guaranteed ride home program in order to cover emergencies that arise during the work day for bus riders. Barone said he ran the commission's list of packet items by Kate, and she thought we need to contact the CEO's and the Human Resources departments with the information. Garwood said they got a list of businesses from the Dept. of Training and Education. They try to keep reminding businesses that it is good for business to do this. Garwood thought they also have growing needs for the senior population as a common interest with the Commission. Behrends thanked Garwood for her presentation. A. Review of"DiverseCity on the Prairie" held August 16, 1998 Pellar-Price thought we need groups that will appeal to younger generations. Helzel suggested we write a letter to Bakers Square to thank them for the pie donations. Barone agreed to do that. Moran thought we should distribute more balloons, and we need to get more food vendors. Barone noted the event is not a money maker for the restaurants. B. Summary of Site Visit to West Suburban Mediation Center - Harry Moran and Michael Barone Moran said he and Barone visited West Suburban Mediation Center last Friday. They talked with Sue Nelson, who said we were the first of their sponsoring groups to visit them. She gave them some brochures and gave them a tour of the offices there. West Suburban is starting a training program for mediators on September 15th. The mediation center is under the jurisdiction of the State Supreme Court and uses guidelines from the court. They work with adults, primarily,but have been trying to get some other mediation work with juveniles. Their largest case load is from housing disputes. Nelson asked for copies of the City Newsletter. Human Rights and Diversity Commission Minutes September 8, 1998 Page 3 Barone said they are interested in getting some publicity in the newsletter and possibly putting something on our web site. Helzel thought it would be good to try to get an estimate of how much it saves the city to use their services. Barone said they are in contact with Jim Clark and Molly Koivumaki on some cases. MOTION: Helzel moved, seconded by Pellar-Price, to recommend approval of the funding request in the amount of$2500.00 for 1999 from West Suburban Mediation Services. Motion carried 4-0. C. Revised Planning Calendar Barone noted the revised Planning Calendar included in the packets. D. Revised Focus Area Responsibilities: "Preserving and Enhancing The Job Base" (From August 1998 meeting) Barone included the revisions from the last meeting in the packets. V. NEW BUSINESS A. Update of Youth Scholarship Award Winner for 1997 -Tram-Anh Vo Barone said Vo contacted him early last week to set up receiving the award through the Finance Department. B. Letter to Eden Prairie Chamber of Commerce -Human Rights Award Process for 1999 Barone said the packets included a copy of his letter to the Chamber of Commerce about continuing the partnership with them for the Human Rights Awards. They will begin planning for next year's Award Luncheon next month or so, and he will keep the Commission posted. D. Focus Area Responsibilities Discussion 1. "Preparing for an Aging Community" Barone liked Kate Garwood's suggestion about using information through SW Metro Transit on this issue. Helzel thought we need more information on what they think the issues are. He also thought we can do a lot with the information from the Senior Issues Task Force report. Barone thought we could get more information from Sandy Werts. A discussion followed regarding what the City is doing to address the issue of leaving space in the City for more senior housing. Human Rights and Diversity Commission Minutes September 8, 1998 Page 4 Helzel said the City needs to be concerned about the affect of an aging population on the tax base. He thought we need to focus on issues such as not having a hospital in town or no hospital near the Hwy 101 corridor. Pellar-Price was concerned about what the plans are for the upgraded Eden Prairie Shopping Center in terms of senior facilities and programs. A discussion followed regarding health care facilities and shopping centers in the City. Barone thought we should come up with some final issues, and he can then discuss the next steps with Natalie Swaggert. Behrends thought we should invite the HTHSB to a joint session to talk about the aging community issues. Helzel thought we might ask representatives from the other boards and commissions to attend such a discussion. 2. "Insuring Public Safety" Due to time constraints, the Commission decided to postpone discussion of this item to the next meeting. E. August 1998 "An Open Letter to Members of the Bar"-from Dolores Fridge, Commissioner of Minnesota Department of Human Rights Barone thought Commissioners might like to see this letter so he included it in the packets. It reviews changes in the laws that go into effect soon. Pellar-Price said she is interested in sponsoring a fishing contest at Staring Lake. The proceeds would be donated, or we could have businesses sponsor the contest. The consensus was to put this item on next meeting's agenda. VI. REPORTS OF COMMISSION MEMBERS A. Housing, Transportation & Human Services: Brad Behrends Behrends said five groups presented funding requests at their meeting last week. He noted that Pellar-Price and Winans also attended the meeting. He reviewed some of the Board's discussion about the presenter groups. B. League of Human Rights Commissions: Gloria Winans Barone said the deadline for signing up for the Annual Conference in St. Cloud is September 26. Behrends and Winans will attend. Barone will call the Commissioners who were absent tonight to see if they plan to attend. Human Rights and Diversity Commission Minutes September 8, 1998 Page 5 C. Report of Youth Representatives: Andrea Brown and Sopanha Te Not present. Barone will call Te to see if she is interested in continuing on the Commission this school year. VII. REPORTS OF STAFF A. Activity Status Barone said he contacted Jim Clark to follow up on the July 31st incident. He said the victim is a resident of Minneapolis. There were no witnesses and no evidence, nor have there been any tips or leads. The Police Department plans to leave it as an open case. Barone has not checked with Peter Huck to see if they did a follow-up. Barone distributed laminated cards summarizing the procedure to access the HRDC Info Line. VIII. FUTURE AGENDAS/EVENTS September 26 8:00 AM -3:30 PM League of Minnesota Human Rights Commissions -Annual Conference St. Cloud, MN October 13 7:00 -9:00 PM HRDC Regular Meeting October 27 7:00 -9:00 PM Optional HRDC Workshop November 10 7:00 -9:00 PM HRDC Regular Meeting November 24 7:00 -9:00 PM Optional HRDC Workshop December 8 7:00 -9:00 PM HRDC Regular Meeting December 22 7:00 -9:00 PM Optional HRDC Workshop IX. ADJOURNMENT MOTION: Moran moved, seconded by Pellar-Price, to adjourn the meeting. Motion carried 4-0. Vice Chair Behrends adjourned the meeting at 8:45 PM.