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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuman Rights and Diversity - 11/13/2008 APPROVED MINUTES EDEN PRAIRIE HUMAN RIGHTS AND DIVERSITY COMMISSION THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2008 7:00 PM, 125 EDEN PRAIRIE CENTER Office of Housing and Human Services COMMISSION MEMBERS: Cari Maguire (Chair), Pam Spera (Vice Chair), Daniel Abraira, Gerry Beckmann, Marcy Harris, Mohamed Duale, and Kelly Brandon STAFF: Molly Koivumaki, Staff Liaison Heidi Wojahn, Recording Secretary STUDENT REPRESENTATIVES: Nelum Madanayake, Adam Liter, and Ummul Kathawalla I. CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL Chair Maguire called the meeting to order at 7:07 pm. Harris was excused. Duale and Kathawalla were absent. II. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Agenda approved by informal consent. III. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Beckmann proposed the following change to the October minutes: 1)p. 5, second paragraph under letter B, add to the sentence so it reads "Only 3 people other than Beckmann attended the Rey de Reyes service from the community at large, but it was very gracious of Eden Prairie Presbyterian Church to extend an invitation to the community for this event. MOTION: Beckmann moved, seconded by Spera, to approve the amended minutes. Motion carried by informal consent. IV. NEW BUSINESS None V. REPORTS FROM STAFF A. Human Services Review Committee (HSRC) No update. B. Bias Crime Activity Status No update. Human Rights & Diversity Commission Minutes November 13, 2008 Page 2 C. Other Reports from Staff- Koivumaki Heading Toward Thankfulness Tours: Koivumaki drove the bus to the mosque in Columbia Heights for the October 24"'outing. There was no cost for the bus. The most rewarding part for Koivumaki was listening to the conversation on the bus afterwards. The visit seemed to bring out the best in people and there was a sense of joy and admiration among the attendees. This really made the trip worthwhile, and the event was very well-received. She had also previously driven to the Hindu temple on the Maple Grove/Osseo border. The participants also spoke about this trip following the tour with great interest. Hennepin County Regionalization Plan: Koivumaki had explained at the HRDC September meeting Eden Prairie was misrepresented in a preliminary report in terms of its social services needs from the County. This prompted a focus group meeting in the Housing & Community Services Office on September 12 during which Eden Prairie service providers had the opportunity to give opinions on how regional services should be offered. Koivumaki expressed disappointment over the fact the County still has not yet provided a written summary of that meeting despite multiple contacts from her for an update. Chair Maguire inquired about the due date; Koivumaki is unsure when it will be presented to the County Board. HRDC Available Funds: HRDC has an account balance of$803.77 with the Eden Prairie Foundation which serves as the fiscal agent for the commission. These funds are the remains of two consecutive yearly $1,000.00 grants from Best Buy. The City is not permitted to manage HRDC funds, thus staff does not access this money without prior approval from the commission. None of these funds were used for any costs relating to the world religion tours. One bus tour was paid for out of Koivumaki's own operating budget. These funds have only been used to help cover the cost of an event at the library last October. Abraira arrived at 7:19 pm. MOTION: Spera moved, seconded by Abraira, to approve the June minutes. Motion carried by informal consent. Budget Advisory Commission (BAC): The Budget Advisory Commission is meeting again and will start to make recommendations in 2009 on the 2010-11 budget. Previously, BAC was making recommendations that affected other commissions without consulting those groups. This raised some concern and, as a result, impacted commissions will now have the privilege of responding to recommendations made by BAC. The finance director has indicated anything potentially affecting HRDC or Koivumaki and her staff will probably surface in July or August which are the two months HRDC typically does not meet. If this is the case, HRDC may need to convene during their off months to address the issues at hand. This also triggered City administration to wonder why HRDC doesn't meet every month like the other commissions. Beckmann replied just because they're not meeting doesn't mean they're inactive. Chair Maguire said when the commission Human Rights & Diversity Commission Minutes November 13, 2008 Page 3 began there were initially four months it didn't meet; two months were eventually added so currently there are only two months it doesn't meet. Brandon shared when she served on the Arts and Culture Commission they skipped one meeting in the summertime, but they scheduled a meeting toward the end of July/early August so there wasn't a full two-month gap between meetings. Spera asked for clarification on the BAC meeting schedule. Koivumaki explained instead of making recommendations in one lump sum as was done last time (too large to be manageable), BAC is handling the process in smaller pieces so recommendations to the City Council will be made incrementally. Spera inquired if anything has changed in terms of BAC having the power to make decisions that affect other commissions. Chair Maguire clarified BAC doesn't have the power to make decisions,but they do make recommendations to the City Council who then decides. Brandon asked about the timing of the budget process. Koivumaki replied the budget doesn't get certified or voted upon until December,but summer months are a busy time for budgeting. Any recommendations coming from BAC will likely have to be addressed with the new commission. Beckmann suggested warning commissioners at the end of the June meeting to stand ready for another summer meeting and then, as that time draws more near, scheduling it during what would be their normal meeting time (i.e. lsr Thursday of the month if that's when the new commission decides to meet). Koivumaki said the timing ultimately depends on how the process progresses and how much work BAC actually gets done. Chair Maguire asked if the BAC had been set; Koivumaki answered it had but she doesn't know who's serving on it. Beckmann commented she had seen an article on it in the Eden Prairie News. Spera recommended HRDC assume its regular schedule through the summer, planning to meet during those off months. Koivumaki said the 2009 budget is set,but it could be reopened and looked at again which is what's being suggested now with a 0% increase (actually about a $1 million reduction). Chair Maguire said with the drop in gas prices, she would think a better bottom line is already being assumed. Koivumaki summed up what has changed is BAC took advice to involve the other commissions in the budget process. Beckmann agreed it was very positive for HRDC to have raised the recommendation and for them to have considered it, thus the outcome is a good one. VI. OLD BUSINESS None VII. REPORTS FROM COMMISSION MEMBERS A. South Hennepin Immigrant Services Group (SHISG) - Beckmann Beckmann had expected Duale to report at tonight's meeting, but in his absence she stated a Somali medical doctor gave a presentation at the last SHISG meeting. Human Rights & Diversity Commission Minutes November 13, 2008 Page 4 Dr. Abdirizak Mohamed works out of a non-profit organization; he is not affiliated with a university or Hennepin County. He reviewed statistics about autism which afflicts Somali children at an alarmingly high rate. His main question was "Why isn't the medical profession diagnosing the autism vs. the schools?" Nobody seemed to have an answer. There were three people at the meeting who don't normally attend but came due to their interest in the subject: an Eden Prairie school psychologist, Marcia Beezely, and Gretchen Durkot, Director of Student Services for the Eden Prairie School District. Chair Maguire said she doesn't have a lot of experience in the area but when she's been involved in special ed diagnoses, the schools often start the diagnosis process and the child ends up going to a doctor to have it confirmed. She asked for clarification of the mystery . . . is the question "Why are the schools diagnosing it first?" or"Why are the schools diagnosing it completely?" Beckmann said Dr. Mohamed's concern was "Why are the schools bringing it up when the medical profession hasn't?" Marcia Beezely will beat next month's HRDC meeting and can address this in further detail. Spera asked if this phenomenon is only with Somali children in the United States or if it carried over to children living in Somalia, as well. Beckmann has heard over the years from Russian and Asian immigrants, as well as Somali immigrants, that they don't have testing in place like we do here. Education and awareness is lacking for a variety of health issues such as depression, Down's syndrome, and autism; there are no related programs in those countries. For them, it is much like it was here in the 1930s where someone with this kind of problem would just get locked in a room or be institutionalized. Chair Maguire added they don't have the necessary social structures in place either. SHAPE classes are meeting at Rasmussen College and Hennepin Technical College, and they are absolutely delighted with their space. B. Events Committee Update - Beckmann Beckmann distributed menus from the synagogue and mosque tours. Seven people attended the synagogue tour and ten people toured the mosque, including Koivumaki. They had outstanding cooperation from each place they visited with top-of-the-line people sharing their faith. Four or five learned scholars sat with them at the mosque and patiently answered questions. They received similar time and attention from Mr. Sherman at the synagogue and Dr. Sane at the Hindu temple. The bonus was two women attending expressed interest in possibly serving on the HRDC; Beckmann thought this was particularly special. Beckmann turned over evaluations she had gathered from the tours to Koivumaki. The comments were essentially favorable. Beckmann was pleased with the outcome despite small numbers. Brandon asked about the timing of the tours being scheduled on weekdays wondering if this perhaps explained the small number of registrants. Beckmann Human Rights & Diversity Commission Minutes November 13, 2008 Page 5 replied one was on a Saturday; the others were Fridays—they had to be worked into the schedules of the destinations they were visiting. Koivumaki agreed she would like to offer it again, too, as it seemed to generate a lot of goodwill. She added small numbers work well because of having to do frequent headcounts; it was also difficult to get people to depart the place of worship on time. They stayed longer than planned but, at the same time, they didn't want to be intrusive and needed to be respectful of the services taking place during their visit. Beckmann agreed saying more than 15 people would be too many. She recommended HRDC reimburse Koivumaki's budget for transportation. Koivumaki said that wouldn't be necessary; the cost was minor because it wasn't a long trip. Beckmann commended Spera for producing three pages of human rights quotes. Koivumaki will forward them to Karla Wennerstrom who will, in turn, determine what gets printed in the newspaper. There was a committee meeting yesterday about the upcoming Mixed Blood Theater event in February at Eden Prairie United Methodist Church for Black History Month, but Beckmann had nothing new to report. Chair Maguire added the same church will host a Martin Luther King program on February 22nd—the show consists of a speech and songs. Spera referred to the comments she made at last month's meeting regarding SHAPE students praying at Wooddale Church. She researched the matter and discovered the law is pretty clear: churches can indeed deny others the right to worship at their location. Beckmann said Jeanne Zetah was very gracious when this issue arose at the SHISG meeting, and the colleges have worked out to be a fantastic solution. Koivumaki agreed holding classes at the colleges was a great idea. VIII. FUTURE MEETINGS/EVENTS The next HRDC meeting will be Thursday, December 11, 2008, 7:00 pm at Eden Prairie Center, Room 125. Inter-faith Worship Service November 23 —Pax Christi Catholic Community in Eden Prairie Black History Month February 7, 2009, 7:00 pm—Mixed Blood Theater"Daughters of Africa" production at Eden Prairie United Methodist Church. Koivumaki thought it would be fun to have the student representatives give a"Where Are They Now?" report on former HRDC student commissioners. The students who have served have been very bright and have gone off to different places; it would interesting to find out where they are, what they're doing, and if anything they learned in HRDC Human Rights & Diversity Commission Minutes November 13, 2008 Page 6 impacted them or motivated them in some way. Madanayake and Liter agreed to take on this task. Beckmann requested an update from Koivumaki on the block grant money featured in the public news section of the paper. Koivumaki reported the City has undertaken a partnership using Community Development Block Grant(CDBG) dollars to assist PROP (the local food shelf/emergency services agency) in acquiring a new location. This money is administered out of Koivumaki's office and is HUD money, not local tax dollars. A public hearing will take place at the December 161h City Council meeting for this expenditure which could be up to $300,000. PROP has outgrown their space—they are very motivated to find a spot and are in need of a bigger and better space at least twice the size of their current location. Abraira asked if Koivumaki was referring to the location on Martin Drive—Koivumaki said no but rather the one inside City Hall. The PROP Shop on Martin Drive is a thrift store with its own 501(c)(3) status. The hope is to work with PROP to find a new location more accessible to people making donations and more convenient for those who benefit from PROP, as it's difficult to maneuver in and out of City Hall with a shopping cart. Spera asked how PROP works compared to PROP Shop. Koivumaki explained PROP formerly had kid's clothes,but they no longer accept donations of any clothing. People in need can obtain vouchers from PROP and use them for clothing at the PROP Shop. Beckmann explained they receive a piece of paper listing what items they need. Then they take this list to the PROP Shop and go into a room(separate from the store) where they can "purchase" a certain amount of items from that room(depending on availability) for free. If what they need cannot be found in that room, they are able to talk to the manager and look at store-area items from which they can most likely obtain their item at no cost or a greatly discounted price. The whole process is intended to be very respectful of the clients so other shoppers don't know who is shopping for free. Beckmann said according to Cindy Eddy, Executive Director of PROP Shop, a very high percentage of donated items cannot be used and needs to be passed on. Koivumaki added the police often give items to PROP Shop once they are done with shoplifting cases because stores won't accept the clothing back. Chair Maguire asked if PROP anticipates having difficulty finding a place. Koivumaki said hopefully the current market situation will help adding the acquisition is one piece, but the operation of it is a separate matter. IX. ADJOURNMENT Chair Maguire adjourned the meeting at 8:10 pm.