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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuman Rights and Diversity - 11/15/2005 APPROVED MINUTES EDEN PRAIRIE RIGHTS & DIVERSITY COMMISSION TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2005 7:00 PM— 125 Eden Prairie Center Office of Housing and Human Services COMMISSION MEMBERS: Larry Piumbroeck(Chair), Jeff Strate (Vice Chair), Gerry Beckmann, Linda Chung, Melissa Barra, Cari Maguire and Pam Spera STUDENT REPRESENTATIVES: Jill Bartel, Rori Costello and Sandra Moran COMMISSION STAFF: Molly Koivumaki, Staff Liaison Mary Zilka, Recording Secretary I. ROLL CALL The meeting was called to order by Larry Piumbroeck at 7:10 PM. Linda Chung was absent. II. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Cari Maguire requested an addition to the Agenda. Under New Business item "B", Martin Luther King Day/Library Bulletin Board MOTION: Jeff Strate moved to approve the agenda as amended, Maguire seconded. Motion carried 6-0 III. APPROVAL OF MINUTES FROM OCTOBER MEETING MOTION: Strate moved to approve October minutes as amended, Maguire seconded. Piumbroeck abstained due to absence. Motion carried 6-0 IV. NEW BUSINESS A. PASTOR GATHERING AT GRACE CHURCH Piumbroeck asked the commission if they would deem it appropriate to discuss the Pastor Gathering that took place at Grace Church. Since no one from the HRDC attended this meeting, the group decided they would Human Rights and Diversity Commission Minutes November 15, 2005 Page 2 need more information to have a discussion. The commission has asked student representative Jill Bartel to please research why Grace Church had invited 250 pastor's to come and discuss the support of an amendment to the state constitution that would only allow marriage between a man and a woman. Pam Spera suggested asking if there are public meeting minutes the commission could review. Molly Koivumaki brought up the point that if Grace Church is going to continue to host these meetings, the commission should be aware of them. Piumbroeck personally knows one Eden Prairie family that attended the church meeting in protest and is going to contact them to ask their side of the meeting and after Bartel's research, the commission could then have a discussion if they wish. B. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. DISPLAY AT LIBRARY/ED CENTER Maguire is still interested in putting together a Martin Luther King display. There isn't a budget to purchase art supplies,but possibly the Communication Dept. could be a resource to assist Maguire. Spera and student representation Sandy Moran will help work on this project. Koivumaki remarked that the Hennepin County Services Center located at the old library site has a large TV screen that has some trivia questions running along the bottom of the screen. Perhaps the Services Center would be willing to include trivia questions about Martin Luther King. V. REPORTS OF STAFF A. HUMAN SERVICES REVIEW COMMITTEE (HSRQ The HSRC has made final funding recommendations that were taken to the City Manager. Piumbroeck told the commission, now is the time to communicate to the City Manager and the City Council if you have any concerns about how the funds are spent. B. BIAS CRIME ACTIVITY STATUS A bias crime was committed towards a family in Eden Prairie. This family consists of a mom, dad and two teenage boys. The mother is Jewish. The mother found patio bricks and mulch materials made in the form of a swastika at her home. The police investigated and three high school students admitted they did this after an argument with one of the boys that live in the home. Officer Randy Thompson has started a Youth Diversion Program locally where the offenders meet with the victims and discuss what happened and then decide together on a course of restitution Human Rights and Diversity Commission Minutes November 15, 2005 Page 3 or project. What has been decided after a suggestion from the mother is to have these three kids research the Holocaust and create a presentation to be presented to the Human Rights and Diversity Commission. This presentation could perhaps be given at the January meeting of the HRDC. VI. OLD BUSINESS A. HUMAN RIGHTS AWARD LETTER AND BROCHURE Commissioner Strate created a draft letter to be sent out to businesses to inform people about the Human Rights and Diversity Award given out each year. Strate will work with the communications dept. to finalize the letter after receiving all edits from the commission members. The communication dept. is working on collecting businesses this letter can be sent out to. Strate, Piumbroeck and the communications dept. also made a draft brochure explaining the Dr. Jean Harris Youth Scholarship Award. This brochure will be sent to all schools in Eden Prairie and surrounding schools which students who live in Eden Prairie attend. This brochure serves a duel purpose explaining the scholarship criteria as well as how a company or individual can donate to this worthwhile scholarship. Strate has asked the commission members to please email to him any edits to this brochure as soon as possible so he can meet with the communications dept. in a timely manner to get this brochure sent out. VII. REPORTS FROM COMMISSION MEMBERS A. SOUTH HENNEPIN IMMIGRANT SERVICES GROUP (SHISG) Commissioner Beckmann attended this meeting and heard an interesting presentation given by Tonya Cook from the World Relief Foundation. Marcia Beezley, Student Support Services from the Eden Prairie School Dist. Gave an ESL overview of the schools programs and activities as well as the school districts ESL trends. The next meeting presenter will be Mary Benner from the Hennepin County Child Care Assist Unit. Beckmann also attended a Teen's Alone meeting and shared some interesting facts with the commission. Five out of every one hundred students in the south metro area are couch hoppers. A couch hopper is a person who has no home and sleeps on couches in different homes. New statistics have shown that one-half of those students have mental health issues. There will be a follow up meeting at the Eisenhower Community Center on Tuesday, December 13, 7:30—9:00 AM. Human Rights and Diversity Commission Minutes November 15, 2005 Page 4 Beckmann passed out copies of"Assertive Steps" that she received at the Eden Prairie High School Bullying presentation. St. Andrew's Lutheran Church hosted David Walsh, one of the worlds leading authorities on family life and the impact of the media and teens. Mr. Walsh presentation was "A Survival Guide to the Adolescent Brain for You and Your Teen". Moran and Beckmann both attended this event. As a final thought Beckmann read Conn McCartan's, the principal at the high school article regarding an exchange of angry words between some Somali students. One of the older students said, "Knock it off, we don't do that here." The exchange stopped immediately. This is a wonderful example of conflict resolution and a student taking responsibility for the culture of there school. Koivumaki remarked this sounds like one of the Somali students from the Solution Finders Group. B. ANY COMMISSION MEMBER MAY REPORT Commissioners Beckmann and Spera met with Ms. Katie Pham as a follow up to Ms. Pham's visit to the HRDC last month. Spera and Beckman asked Pham what expectations did she have for coming to the HRDC meeting. Pham stated that her concern was really for others that this kind of harassment may be happening too. Many questions are raised by this situation. What can our commission do to help a person like Pham? What can the commission do for people in her situation? Can we do anything? Koivumaki suggested one option could be to explore the bias crime network, minus the crime. Offering support for the victim whether it's letter writing or standing at the bus stop, something to show support. Maybe we don't wait for a crime,but we activate this group of volunteers. Maguire questioned if this was being done to her because of her racial status? Commission Chair Piumbroeck would like to make "victim support" an agenda item at a future HRDC meeting. C. REPORTS FROM STUDENT REPRESENTATIVES Student representative Rori Costello reported that a focus group was held for students to talk about diversity and the achievement gap. Costello talked to some students who told her they agree there is a achievement gap between minorities but the students also believe the community would never admit to this being a problem. Sandy Moran said she actually had comments said to her, "Oh you actually got into the Honor Society"? Moran says there are people that think because of her race, she is not smart enough to be on the National Honor Society. Costello said last year a survey was given through ESL classes. Some students in ESL mentioned they felt it was restrictive to be in ESL and they couldn't even try to be part of a regular class or AP class. Moran Human Rights and Diversity Commission Minutes November 15, 2005 Page 5 mentioned that in her AP class is a class of mixed students. VIII. FUTURE MEETINGS/EVENTS The next meeting will be Tuesday, December 13, 2005. 7:00—9:00 PM, Office of Housing and Human Services. XI. ADJOURN Maguire moved to adjourn the meeting, seconded by Strate. Meeting adjourned at 9:15 PM