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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuman Rights and Diversity - 12/12/2006 APPROVED MINUTES EDEN PRAIRIE HUMAN RIGHTS & DIVERSITY COMMISSION TUESDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2006 7:00 PM, 125 EDEN PRAIRIE CENTER Office of Housing and Human Services COMMISSION MEMBERS: Cari Maguire (chair), Melissa Barra (Vice Chair), Larry Piumbroeck, Jeff Strate, Gerry Beckmann, Linda Chung, and Pam Spera STUDENT REPRESENTATIVES: Sandra Moran, Steven Shouts and Grace Li COMMISSION STAFF: Molly Koivumaki, Staff Liaison Mary Zilka, Recording Secretary I. ROLL CALL Commission Chair Cari Maguire called the meeting to order at 7:10 pm. II. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Maguire moved to approve agenda with additions. Agenda approved. III. APPROVAL OF MINUTES FROM MAY, SEPT., OCT., & NOV. MEETINGS September 12, 2006 minutes approved. November 14, 2006 minutes moved to approve by Maguire, as amended by Gerry Beckmann. The HRDC was unable to approved May and October 2006 minutes due to the absence of Commissioner Barra. Will try again to approve in January 2007. IV. NEW BUSINESS A. JUDY REINEHR—LEAGUE OF MN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION Ms. Reinehr is chairing the redevelopment of the Hopkins HRDC, and is interested in learning about Eden Prairie HRDC responsibilities, events, etc. Maguire shared the HRDC goals and Reinehr requested that one of our members visit the new Hopkins HRDC. Reinehr brought materials from the League of MN Human Rights Commission and said to feel free to display them, loan them out and we could even use the public service announcements on our EPTV channel if so desired. Hopkins has played the public service announcements after their city council meetings. Reinehr showed two of the public service announcements from the United Rights Handbook to the HRDC. Human Rights & Diversity Commission December 12, 2006 Page 2 B. MAYOR ELECT YOUNG NEW INITIATIVE Molly Koivumaki received an official memo from Scott Neal, City Manager stating Mayor-elect Young would like the boards and commission to be better integrated into the City's overall governance structure. He wants to hear feedback and ideas from boards and commission more often, and he wants boards and commission to be receptive to the Council placing policy items on their respective agendas. Mr. Neal is asking the HRDC for ideas on how this change could be best accomplished. The HRDC brainstormed for a few minutes and came up with the following ideas to possibly help the HRDC to become more integrated with the City Council. 1. Funding process to apply for funds to be used by the HRDC. 2. Chairs meet with the council on some regular basis. 3. Participation in our events, such as the International Festival. 4. Share our action plan with the council. 5. Make an effort to attend a city council meeting. 6. Possibly meet with the student representatives on commissions and get their feedback on how to improve the city. 7. Research how St. Louis Park runs their city council meetings. More information will be forthcoming. V. REPORTS OF STAFF A. HUMAN SERVICES REVIEW COMMITTEE (HSRQ The HSRC did not meet in December B. BIAS CRIME ACTIVITY STATUS A potential crime of bias was reported to police. Details: On December 6, 2006, a black couple living at Parkway Apartments was awakened by noise in the hallway and found a note had been slipped under their apartment door that read "Merry Christmas Niggers and Arabs." Male victim looked out in the hallways and saw two white males leaving the area. It was later discovered that the elevator had been vandalized with racial epithets. Police are continuing the investigation. Koivumaki placed a call to the victims and is awaiting a reply. C. OTHER REPORTS FROM STAFF Koivumaki reported on the following: Cable Proizram: Pat Brink, city communication division, asked Koivumaki to get back to him with an outline of what the cable program would look like, the topics that would be explored, etc. Brink said to be sure to answer the "so what" question—as in "so what is this information good for?" Human Rights & Diversity Commission December 12, 2006 Page 3 Jean Harris Scholarship: Koivumaki was notified in early December that the Chamber of Commerce would move ahead with taking over the administration of the Jean Harris Scholarship. More details will be forthcoming. PROP Shop: The Prop Shop has a potential new site. They are working with a building owner in the area of Pioneer Trail and Highway 212. WIC Office: A meeting will be held on Thursday, December 14, with a representative of the WIC (Women, Infants and Children) program and Eden Prairie clients to study the feasibility of a satellite office in Eden Prairie. The meeting will take place at the Office of Housing and Human Services, beginning at 4:30 pm. Eden Prairie High School Elementary Mentoring Class: Staff from the Office of Housing and Human Services and the FamiLink Resource Center will present a class on working with diverse cultures to the EPHS "Elementary Mentoring Class" on Friday, December 151h. This class pairs high school juniors and seniors with elementary and intermediate students who would benefit from additional one-on-one tutoring. The younger students are from diverse populations and some have recently arrived here from different countries. School ESL Stats: Koivumaki distributed information about the number of students currently enrolled in the Eden Prairie School District ESL classes. 564 students are enrolled, representing 28 languages. This information was provided by the FamiLink Resource Center. Name Chanze: It is anticipated that after the first of the year, the Office of Housing and Human Services will change its name to the Office of Housing and Community Services. The name change reflects the broader scope of services offered in this office. VI. OLD BUSINESS A. ALL OF US COLUMN—JEFF STRATE Jeff Strate reported that both Eden Prairie newspapers would like to have the HRDC column published again. Strate suggested and Maguire agreed we should have a bank of three columns ready to publish before we start. Ideally if the column could be published monthly it would be great. Strate will call the newspapers after the Holidays. Maguire also offered to write a column. VII. REPORTS FROM COMMISSION MEMBERS A. SOUTH HENNEPIN IMMIGRANT SERVICES GROUP (SHISG) Speaker from storefront group in Richfield spoke on the Immigrant Health and Wellbeing Project. They spoke of the difficulty getting people to understand and Human Rights & Diversity Commission December 12, 2006 Page 4 recognize mental health issues. Ruth Aldrich, Learning Exchange/Volunteer Connection/SHAPE/Vista worker spoke to the group about her very interesting background and experiences. She brought a solar oven that she actually used in South East Asia. Aldrich is planning on working in the area for 3 years and is a welcomed addition to the work being done here. SHAPE has developmentally delayed and physically disability life skills classes that are in need of volunteers. This class is held in the evening. PROP asked for Somali speaking volunteers to help with their Holiday programs. B ANY COMMISSION MEMBER MAY REPORT Beckmann attended the International Day at the Hennepin Technical College. This event was student run and organized. The culinary students prepared 16 different foods; there were displays,handicrafts for sale and a style show. It was very nice and well done. Beckmann shared that our student representative Grace Li is a National Merit Scholar. This was Li's last meeting as she is moving to Arizona. Jeff Strate stated that it would be nice if the HRDC send a letter of thanks to the Eden Prairie Chamber of Commerce for taking over the administration of the Jean Harris Scholarship. The HRDC could send a copy to Hennepin County Commissioner Randy Johnson also. Beckmann suggested sending a thank you letter to Wrenetta Dietz, EPHS teacher for her contributions to the HRDC. In January, there will be a presentation to the City Council to kick off Human Rights Awards. Please start thinking about nominees for those awards. There will also be planning for a New Youth Award. Pam Spera attempted to attend the Solution Finders meeting at the EPHS and walked all over the school, but could not find the meeting even after walking all over the high school. The Solution Finders group is missing the leadership role of Randy Thompson. Possibly the Somali Liaison at the high school could be the person to ask to take the male leadership role. This group has been valuable and perhaps this issue should be taken to the City Council to request help so this program does not disseminate. Beckmann suggested the City ask a police liaison and school district staff to serve on the HRDC. Chung said it is important to at least get the meeting dates, etc. posted at the high school. VIII. REPORT OF STUDENT COMMISSIONERS Sandy Moran attended the 23rd Annual Human Rights Day on Friday, Dec. 1 at Saint Paul River Centre. The conference keynote speaker was civil rights leader Dr. Mary Frances Berry. Moran attended the breakout sessions and thought they were very good. She received a lot of information and met many people. On January 23rd she is attending the Rotary Club, to speak about the Spanish radio station that is located in Chanhassen. Human Rights & Diversity Commission December 12, 2006 Page 5 IX. FUTURE MEETINGS/EVENTS January 9, 2007, 7 pm, at the Office of Housing and Human Services. X. ADJOURNMENT Meeting adjourned at 9:00 pm.