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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuman Rights and Diversity - 12/13/2005 APPROVED MINUTES EDEN PRAIRIE HUMAN RIGHTS & DIVERSITY COMMISSION TUESDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2005 7:00 PM— 125 Eden Prairie Center Office of Housing & Human Resources 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: Mary Keating, Staff Liaison (filling in for Molly Koivumaki) Mary Zilka, Recording Secretary I. ROLL CALL Commission Chair Larry Piumbroeck called the meeting to order at 7:15 PM Linda Chung was absent. Ms. Muna Mohamed, U of M student was in the audience. II. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Commissioner Melissa Barra moved to postpone discussion of Item A., Scholarship Selection Process under Old Business until status of the scholarship is known. III. APPROVAL OF MINUTES FROM NOVEMBER MEETING Beckmann had the following edits: VII. Change "saw" to "heard." Paragraph 2, strike 4"' sentence. Third paragraph should begin with St. Andrew. Remove extra "was" in sentence regarding Mr. Walsh's presentation. Remove "final thought" in sentence where Beckmann read an article wrote by Conn McCartan, principal at the Eden Prairie High School. Under B, Any Commission Member May Report, add to second sentence the "HRDC" meeting. Remove second question Cari Maguire asked at the end of the paragraph. Strate moved and Maguire seconded to approve minutes of November meeting as amended. Motion carried 6-0 IV. NEW BUSINESS A. None to discuss Human Rights & Diversity Commission December 13, 2005 Page 2 V. REPORTS OF STAFF A. Human Services Review Committee (HSRC) Mary Keating reported on the vendor recommendations that were made to the City Council, which will probably be voted on at the City Council meeting tonight. B. Bias Crime Activity Status —N/A, Molly Koivumaki absent and reports on the status. VI. OLD BUSINESS A. View the Jean Harris Scholarship Brochure and Fund Raisin Commissioner Strate presented the brochure that could be sent out or handed out to interested parties explaining this youth scholarship award as well as how to donate for this worthy student opportunity. Piumbroeck applauded Strate and the city communications specialist Rena Sarigianopoulos for all of their hard work on producing the Dr. Jean L. Harris Youth Scholarship Award brochure. A cover letter will need to be created in a timely manner to be sent along with this brochure. Strate commented that different bonds of paper could be used to save on the cost of printing. Spera would like to see a greater number of brochures/letters sent on regular paper than having a fewer number because of the quality of the paper. The fund raising sub-committee will meet to review the business data base and select which businesses will be approached either in person (preferably teams of two) or by mail received from the economic development manager. Piumbroeck believes a personal visit might make a difference in donations. Piumbroeck discussed how the scholarship fund will be managed by the HRDC, but the fiscal agent for the donations will be the Eden Prairie Foundation. The letter requesting donations has been reviewed by the City Manager and City Attorney to make sure we are within the law. The HRDC is encouraged to make connections with individuals of companies to request money be sent to this scholarship fund. Maguire is planning on sending personal letters explaining that the youth scholarship opportunity could be lost due to a lack of funds and ask for contributions. The HRDC will revisit how many contributions have been made by February 1, 2006. HRDC would like to be able to fund two $1000 scholarships, but if by February 1St it looks like only $800 has been made, they may be able to fund only one scholarship this year. One important point of these donations is to make sure to publicize who made contributions so this scholarship could be awarded. Human Rights & Diversity Commission December 13, 2005 Page 3 Strate would like to consider having a long term money making event for the stability of the scholarship funds. Perhaps a yearly event around Martin Luther King day, a picnic type meal and silent auction. Strate has seen successful silent auctions before. HRDC realizes it is too late to plan something like that this year, but was open to revisiting this idea. Beckmann made a motion to accept the two documents that have been prepared by the City Manager and City Attorney granting the Eden Prairie Foundation as fiscal agent for the Dr. Jean Harris Youth Scholarship Award and the HRDC as the managing committee. Seconded by Strate. Motion carried 6-0. B. Update on Human Rights Award Letter Commissioner Strate presented the informational letter that will be sent out to businesses, individuals, and non-profit agencies to create interest in nominating a person, business or non-profit for the Human Rights Award. The fundraising sub-committee of the HRDC will meet and again select businesses that this letter could be sent to. C. Martin Luther King Report Maguire talked with Ali Turner from the Eden Prairie Library and was pleased to say that the HRDC can use their display board for most of the month of January. Maguire is going to see if there is a budget to buy some posters, etc. to make a display. Even if there isn't a budget to help her, she is planning on purchasing posters herself to make sure it is a nice display. Student Representative Jill Bartel will meet Maguire at the library and help out with the display. Beckmann told Maguire about the display windows at City Hall. Beckmann suggested that Maguire call Jill Judlin, city hall staff that can possibly help with a display window since Judlin does such wonderful displays for the city. D. Pastor Summit at Grace Church Update Bartel researched the MN Marriage Amendment Pastor Pledge summit at Grace Church on November 10, 2005. Nothing new was online regarding this meeting. Bartel did not feel comfortable calling Grace Church to inquire about possible follow up summits. Human Rights & Diversity Commission December 13, 2005 Page 4 VII. REPORTS FROM COMMISSION MEMBERS A. South Hennepin Immigrant Services Group (SHISG) Mary Benner from Hennepin County Child Care Assistance gave a detailed presentation on their programs. The rules and regulations are difficult to understand and change according to the ages of children and the income of parents and the number of people in the household. The best thing for a client to do is get on the waiting list which is 2-3 years out at this time. She also spoke of the problems this dept. has with the funding of unlicensed (family member) day care. Each member of the household has to have a criminal background study and some households report up to 15 members- then many people have the same names and birthday dates are difficult to get. As a result these checks take months and months and then someone moves out and someone else moves in. Providers are not getting paid sometimes for several months and sometimes they don't get paid even through they have been caring for children for several months if a person in the house does not check out. Sears Optical Dept. in Eden Prairie was again providing the Gift of Sight program. The optical manager of Sears in Eden Prairie is Kate Mitchaux. This program provides an eye exam and glasses for up to 10 people. Mitchaux was disappointed with the number of people that had signed up. Beckmann gave the information regarding this program to 2 families she works with. One family had gone for the appointment. This might be a good program for the Human Services Award. A video about 2 Somali Twin Cities women will be playing at the Eden Prairie Library one afternoon in the last week of Dec. Call the EP Library for times and dates. B. Any Commission Member May Report Beckmann brought up the issue of HRDC members speaking at public forums, like the Truth in Taxation Meeting that was held on December 6, 2005. Beckmann felt that commission chair Larry Piumbroeck and commission vice-chair Jeff Strate did not have the right to identify themselves as chair and vice chair of the HRDC without discussing this with the commission first. Piumbroeck responded by saying he went to this meeting as a citizen and was asked to identify himself and state his address. He made a judgment regarding disclosure and he did not speak as a commissioner. Beckmann does not think there was any reason for him to speak as a commissioner. As the chair Piumbroeck says he believes he has the latitude to represent himself as a commissioner and he does feel proud to speak as a commissioner. Strate respectfully disagreed with Beckmann's interpretation and felt he was appropriate in the way he addressed the City Council. Human Rights & Diversity Commission December 13, 2005 Page 5 Beckmann wondered why this was not discussed at the November meeting so we could come to resolution and could make a more powerful statement. Spera commented that this is an important issue and three things come to mind that should be discussed at a commission meeting: 1. Can we identify ourselves as HRDC commission members? 2. Do we have to say we are not speaking for the commission? 3. Question of emergency meetings for reaching resolutions. Spera also commented that there is a possibility that someone could stand up and say something that is misinterpreted or that the commission does not support. We need a protocol in place. Piumbroeck would like this put on another agenda for discussion. Strate and Beckmann attended a luncheon at Eden Wood Center, a non-profit organization that runs Camp Eden Wood. Eden Wood Center has programs for children, teens and adults who have special needs. Two of the old camp buildings are going to be renovated with all funds coming from the private sector. Sandy Moran asked how she could find out about these meetings. She would like to attend some. The commission will be sure to send this information to the student representatives from now on. C. Student Representative Report Sandy Moran said the first meeting of Diversity Club at the high school meets on December 14, 2005. The Diversity Club coordinates the April 20"'Diversity Fair at the high school. Moran will let the commission know what time the Diversity Fair and the speaker panel start. Mrs. Davidson is the advisor of the Diversity Club and Sandy Moran is president. Jill Bartel is the vice president of the Spanish Club at the High School. VIII. FUTURE MEETINGS/EVENTS Tuesday, January 10, 2006 —7:00—9:00 PM at the Office of Housing and Human Services. IX. ADJOURN Maguire moved to adjourn the meeting, seconded by Barra. Meeting adjourned at 9:25 PM.