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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuman Rights and Diversity - 10/11/2007 APPROVED MINUTES HUMAN RIGHTS & DIVERSITY COMMISSION THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2007 7:00 PM, 125 EDEN PRAIRIE CENTER Office of Housing and Human Services COMMISSION MEMBERS: Cari Maguire (Chair), Melissa Barra(Vice Chair), Daniel Abraira, Larry Piumbroeck, Jeff Strate, Gerry Beckmann, and Pam Spera STUDENT REPRESENTATIVES: Nelum Madanayake, Kevin Karner, Jacqueline Clevette COMMISSION STAFF: Molly Koivumaki, Staff Liaison Angie Perschnick, Recording Secretary I. ROLL CALL Commission Chair Maguire called the meeting to order at 7:08 PM. Vice Chair Barra was absent because she is traveling currently, but Koivumaki noted that Barra is planning to attend all upcoming HRDC meetings through February. Spera arrived at 7:14 PM. Abraira arrived at 7:25 PM. All Student Representatives for this term were present. II. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Koivumaki added a memo and request from City Manager Scott Neal, which will be included under New Business item(A) Letter to the City Council Maguire added planning the Faces of Change exhibit at the Eden Prairie library in November to the agenda. She also noted that she would be doing a short presentation to the City Council at their October 16 meeting. Koivumaki added that the group would watch the Solution Finder video tonight if time permits. The group informally approved the meeting agenda. III. APPROVAL OF MINUTES FROM SEPTEMBER MEETING MOTION: Strate moved. Motion carried 5-0. IV. NEW BUSINESS A. LETTER TO THE CITY COUNCIL Maguire led the discussion regarding the letter the group is preparing for the City Council regarding the proposed cuts to Human Services in the upcoming budget. Scott Neal provided a memo showing sample motions that were presented by other commissions regarding proposed budget cuts, and the group was provided Human Rights & Diversity Commission October 11, 2007 Page 2 copies of that memo and another memo from Scott sharing suggestions for how the HRDC may want to approach this issue in their letter to the City Council. In addition, Maguire provided sample letters that she put together as a result of the subgroup meeting with Spera, Strate, and Maguire. The group also received copies of Strate's letter, which focused on the precedence of the BAC over other commissions, and Spera's letter, which focused on the role of the HRDC. The group read and discussed the sample letters, and it was noted that the letters overlap and would be reconciled into one letter for the City Council. Maguire noted that the letter would go to the City Council for their meeting on Tuesday, October 16, so the subcommittee members (Strate, Spera, and Maguire) will need to finalize and approve the completed letter in the next couple of days. There was a discussion regarding the budgeting process, including concerns that the BAC did not incorporate other commissions' suggestions into the budget recommendation process. Strate noted that their code does not give the BAC direction to include other commissions in their budget review process. Spera and Maguire noted their concerns that the BAC seems to have been given a lot of authority in the budgeting process, much more so than any of the other commissions. Additionally, there is concern that the City Council did not include the HRDC in the process. Piumbroeck suggested that the letter should focus on the proposed human services cuts rather than the bigger issue of budgeting process and commission roles. Piumbroeck thought it might be beneficial for the group to pass a resolution in addition to providing the letter to the Council. This would allow the Council to know that the HRDC as a group supports the suggestions in the letter. Beckmann wants to focus the letter on what is happening now and goals for the BAC in future budgeting processes. Koivumaki responded to Beckmann's question regarding plans for the BAC in future budgeting processes. Koivumaki's understanding is that the BAC follows the same model as other Commissions (in terms of tenure, etc.), and she thinks the Mayor plans to continue using the BAC in future budgeting processes. Spera thought the HRDC should have been notified of the proposed human services cuts so the HRDC could give guidance in the process. Maguire questioned at what point in the process that would be appropriate, and she noted that Koivumaki did inform the HRDC by contacting Maguire after she learned of the proposed changes. Beckmann wondered if other commissions who were affected were also left out of the process, and Strate confirmed that the Parks & Recreation Commission did have that experience also based on his conversations with the Parks Commissioner. Strate also noted that the Mayor has indicated that he wants to involve the commissions more in speaking to the City Council going forward, so Strate sees things moving in the right direction. Maguire stated that Mayor Young seems to agree that the budget process was not perfect this time around; he Human Rights & Diversity Commission October 11, 2007 Page 3 indicated he would like input, so it makes sense for the HRDC to provide some suggestions. Strate said he thinks it would be good to know what other commissions think about the budgeting process. Maguire said she would investigate that issue by contacting Chairs of the other affected commissions or reviewing minutes from their meetings. Then she could make a written request that the commissions be included in the process going forward,but that would be separate from the letter. She would like to keep the letter to the City Council to two parts, incorporating: (1) concerns over the impact of the proposed budget cuts to the Office of Housing and Human Services, and (2) the precedence of the Budget Advisory Commission over other commissions. She will incorporate parts of Strate's letter involving the budgeting process and Spera's wording regarding the role of the HRDC also. Piumbroeck asked if it was appropriate to raise the issue of"where's the fire"? Maguire sees that as a whole different issue that would not be included in the letter. Piumbroeck suggested that the letter use careful and elegant wording, and Strate would then review the letter for editing of overall tone. Koivumaki said the letter can get included for the October 16 Council meeting via a walk-on, and she will let Scott Neal know that the letter will be forthcoming to the Council. Maguire will make sure the letter is ready by Monday morning, and she suggested it would be good to email it to the City Council also. MOTION: Piumbroeck moved, seconded by Spera, that the letter be finalized and submitted to the City Council. Motion carried 6-0. B. FACES OF CHANGE EXHIBIT AT LIBRARY Maguire checked with Barra regarding the Best Buy money, and Barra confirmed the Commission has the money to use for food at the Faces of Change event. Maguire talked through her ideas for the event with Allie Turner, and she thinks this is a great a too. There would be a reception area outside of the meeting room at the event with desserts and beverages. There will be photographs on easels throughout the library, and screenings of the Solution Finder video can take place. There could be discussion groups about the video for a program. Maguire would like to have the event on the first week of November to coincide with the opening week of the Faces of Change event at the library. The group discussed possible dates to hold the event, and Maguire noted she would need to check the dates with the library after the group decides what options would work best for the most people. Maguire will ask for November 1 or November 6 as the first and second options, respectively. Maguire asked if anyone wanted to be on a planning committee for the event with her, and Koivumaki, Abraira, and Spera volunteered. C. HRDC PRESENTATION TO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Human Rights & Diversity Commission October 11, 2007 Page 4 Maguire will make a brief presentation to the City Council at their meeting on October 16. She plans to include a brief recap of the International Festival and an invitation for them to attend the Faces of Change event at the library. She will also thank Butcher for attending the International Festival. V. REPORTS OF STAFF A. HUMAN SERVICES REVIEW COMMITTEE (HSRQ Koivumaki said the HRSC met twice since the last HRDC meeting. They put together the funding recommendations for the budget and passed those along to the City Manager. They will be looked at by the City Council at their next meeting, and hopefully there will be an indication from the City Council of what they plan to do for the funding recommendations. For the recommendations the HSRC was asked to make regarding version 1 of the budget, $190,000 was recommended in grant funding for 2008 and 2009. For the recommendations the HSRC was asked to make regarding version 2 of the budget, $140,000 was recommended for grant funding for 2008 and $125,000 for 2009. They based their recommendations on providing reduced amounts for the organizations currently supported. They put a notice on the City website for requests for funding. Koivumaki said there were cuts in every category for the recommendations on the version 2 budget as well as the recommendations for the version 1 budget. B. BIAS CRIME ACTIVITY STATUS Koivumaki has not received reports of any bias-related crimes, but she did receive a letter from an Eden Prairie resident who received poor service at a restaurant that may have been based on her husband's race. The letter was distributed for everyone to read and then returned to Koivumaki. Koivumaki talked to the woman with the complaint directly, and she told her the City and HRDC do not enforcement powers. Koivumaki told her that the complaint could be filed with the Minnesota Department of Human Rights for investigation and enforcement, and Koivumaki walked her through their process and provided contact information. Koivumaki asked the group if there was any action they wanted to take. The group discussed interpretations of what may have taken place. Maguire said she does not think any actions need to be taken largely because the group agreed they could not determine if bias was involved in the incident in any way. VI. OLD BUSINESS Maguire briefly asked the students about the Diversity poster they worked on for the Eden Prairie library diversity poster display this month. VII. REPORTS FROM COMMISSION MEMBERS Human Rights & Diversity Commission October 11, 2007 Page 5 A. SOUTH HENNEPIN IMMIGRANT SERVICES GROUP (SHISG) Beckmann said there is no report for SHISG at this time. B. ANY COMMISSION MEMBER MAY REPORT Maguire reported on the Solution Finders video screening she and Beckmann attended at the library. Allie Turner moderated the event. Maguire explained that Solution Finders is a group of Somali students at the high school that has met for the past few years (they are not currently meeting to her knowledge). A good conversation followed the video-screening event at the library. Strate asked if the video will be shown on the City or School District channel, and it was suggested they could propose that to the City Communications Department. Three kids who worked on the video were at the library for the discussion, and a few younger Somali kids who happened to be at the library joined the discussion too. There were a lot of emotions, mostly sad feelings that they are treated differently and are required to take ESL classes that some of them feel they do not need. Maguire talked with Chief Reynolds at the Police Department about a couple of items that came up in the discussion. Maguire also talked with Nanette Misogi at the school district, and she plans to follow up with the principal there too. Maguire plans to suggest they use the video in the school also. The HRDC watched the Solution Finders video and discussed it afterward. Piumbroeck and Spera noted that it was a great video and very enlightening. Student Representative Clevette is friends with a couple of people in the video, and she was surprised at some of their feelings and experiences. Kamer would like a copy of the video for students he knows who are putting together a documentary. He noted the school has a very wide economic range represented and about 5% of the student body is Somali. He thinks these views should be brought to people's attention and discussed. Madanayake stated that the separation between the Somali groups and the rest of the school is something everyone is aware of and sees, but no one challenges it. The Somali students tend to stick to themselves, and the school is large enough that people separate out into their cliques and tend to stay there. There is a lot more diversity at Eden Prairie high school than at the International School, where Madanayake previously attended. At the smaller International School, she didn't notice racial differences because there were fewer groups and everyone was together. At Eden Prairie high school, there are more groups and race is often part of how students choose to separate themselves into groups. Clevette noted that in the classrooms, student more across racial and ethnic lines because they are working together on projects. Clevette said a Somali student from the video is in her government class, and it is interesting to hear her points compared to Clevette's since they see things very differently based on different backgrounds and experiences. Madanayake noted that students are tracked early into their school career, and that causes more separation of students. Human Rights & Diversity Commission October 11, 2007 Page 6 Maguire followed with Nanette Missaghi and will follow up with a few other people regarding the ESL programs since that is her area. Maguire said she does not think extra funding is given for having a certain number of kids in ESL math, for example, but test scores do affect the funding. She sees that some of the students don't understand that they may need written help with ESL even if they speak English well. Beckmann wondered if the school district or mall might have concerns about the HRDC showing the video at the library since the incidents addressed typically happened at the school. Maguire said the students in the video were respectful in how the incidents were described, so she wants to make sure the video is allowed to be viewed by a broader audience and to generate conversation. Maguire contacted the Police Department to encourage them to be represented for the discussion following the library video viewing. Beckmann suggested it would make sense to invite mall representatives to the event also. Koivumaki asked the students when each of them first had classes with Somali students. Kamer said probably as early as first grade, and Clevette said her experience was about the same. Madanayake went to the International School for most of her school years before high school, and seventh grade was when she first recalls having a Somali student in her class. The students said that in the Eden Prairie School District, they grow up with classes that are integrated within their elementary schools. However, when they get to about 5 h grade, the tracking process that separates students according to language ability, math ability, etc. separates students more (inadvertently by race/ethnicity in some cases as well as by intellectual ability in different areas). Maguire learned that all the teachers are studying race theory this year, and they are working on ways to remove discrimination for identifying skill levels appropriately among students with different backgrounds and cultures. Beckmann noted that the two school board members who attended the video showing and discussion were very surprised by some of the events described in the videos. Spera said it would be easy to make sure comments like "we're hiring the right people" at the mall do not happen. Strate said that that girl's perspective may have been different than the intent behind the comment, and he noted that a lot of Somalis do work at the mall. Maguire and Clevette noted they aren't in all of the stores. Maguire said that, whether they are correct or not, the Somali students' perceptions and feelings are valid. She was surprised at how isolated they feel and the fact that they feel that they are treated differently is a concern. Beckmann said that when they show this video, they need people who can respond to the questions and issues that are likely to arise in discussions. She thinks it would be appropriate to have representatives from the School District, Police, and mall to clarify misperceptions or misunderstandings of how things work. Madanayake agrees that there may be some misperceptions among Somali students in the video, but she sees this as their video showing what they see and Human Rights & Diversity Commission October 11, 2007 Page 7 how they interpret it. Clevette said that often people do not know what someone meant because body language and tone are such a big part of every interaction and conversation. Maguire observed that subtle discrimination is more common now rather than overt discrimination. Beckmann asked about the format for the November library event. Maguire said they would host the event out of a meeting room, show the video, and have a discussion. Most of the specifics will be worked out between the HRDC subcommittee and the library in the next few weeks. Any ideas can be sent to Maguire prior to the event. Strate noted that there is scholarship money available to attend the Human Rights Day event on December 7, 2007. Strate recommends HRDC members apply for scholarships for the event. Maguire noted the City might pay for someone to attend, and this conference is for anyone interested in human rights. The Minnesota Department of Human Rights Conference is less expensive than the Human Rights Day event, and Mike Farrell will be speaking at the MN Dept. of Human Rights conference. VIII. FUTURE MEETINGS/EVENTS The next meeting will be on November 8"' at the same time and place. IX. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned informally at 9:30 PM.