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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuman Rights and Diversity - 05/11/2004 APPROVED MINUTES Eden Prairie Human Rights & Diversity Commission Tuesday, May 11, 2004 8:00 PM—Heritage Rooms, City Center 8080 Mitchell Road, Eden Prairie MN 55344-4485 Commission Members: Larry Piumbroeck (Chair), Jeff Strate (Vice Chair), Pam Miller, Balu Iyer, Linda Chung, Gerry Beckmann, and Cari Maguire Student Representatives: Kian Missaghi, Molly Moroski, Jackie Beutell Commission Staff: Molly Koivumaki, Staff Liaison Tanya Whitsitt, Recording Secretary I. Roll Call The meeting was called at 8:15 pm. All Commission members and Student Representatives were present except Iyer. Several Eden Prairie High School students were in attendance as part of their Government class requirement. New Community Development Director Janet Jeremiah was also a guest. Koivumaki introduced Jeremiah and said she came from the City of St. Louis Park. She was the project manager of the Excelsior and Grand project. Koivumaki said she was pleased to have her and Piumbroeck welcomed her to the meeting. II. Approval of Agenda MOTION: Maguire moved, seconded by Strate to approve the Agenda. Motion carried: 5-0 III. Approval of Minutes from April Meeting Minutes were "lost" from April meeting. MOTION: Maguire moved, seconded by Strate to ask members to e-mail their recollections and notes to Recorder Whitsitt. She will then try to compile the important highlights from the meeting. Motion carried: 5-0 IV. New Business Nothing to report. V. Reports of Staff A. Human Services Review Committee (HSRC) Koivumaki said the committee met the 1st Monday of the month. They reviewed ongoing programs. One topic discussed was Corporal Joyce Conley's retirement from the EPPD and possibility of a replacement for her. B. Bias Crime Activity Status Nothing to report. C. Discussion on communication with other City's HRDCs Koivumaki reported that she and Piumbroeck were invited by the City of Bloomington's HRDC to come to one of their meetings. She handed out their Human Rights brochure. She K\RECORDS\Minutes\Human Rights&Diversity\2004V05.13.04 HRDC Minutes.doc tjw 1 said they will be going next week. Also the City of Shoreview has a large Hmong population and they are planning an event similar to our Gathering and she said it is nice that our Commission is being noticed by other cities. Maguire reminded the group that the "It's Time to Talk" series is being held on May 22 and 23. The workshop is being facilitated by the YWCA and the State Human Rights League and helps people examine biases, understand "white privilege" and other Human Rights topics. She said she cannot go,but invited anyone else to attend and the City will pay. VI. Old Business Piumbroeck added that the International Festival will be held on July 31st and will focus on newer immigrants. He said the planning group is led by Sandy Werts and there will be entertainment, music, food and children's programs. Maguire said she did not go to the last meeting, but if anyone is interested, volunteers are needed or if you know someone who would like to help,please contact Werts. Piumbroeck noted that they would like to get more variety and community involvement. He said it is important to get broad-based help with this event. Chung asked how the event will be advertised and Piumbroeck replied through the website and newspapers. Beckmann suggested putting an article in the paper advertising that we are looking for people for the event. She said that the public needs to keep seeing information on it. VII. Reports from Commission members A. South Hennepin Immigrant Services Group (SHISG) Beckmann reported they met on May 3rd. She noted that for the next three months they will be meeting at Immanuel Lutheran Church. The library will be closed because it is begin moved. This last meeting's topics emphasized school programs. The last meeting's topics emphasized summer programs for children. She passed around literature from the meeting. B. Any Commission Member may report Maguire mentioned the newspaper column "All of Us". Piumbroeck explained that this Commission writes a monthly column for the two local papers. He said Maguire is a great writer and that Strate will write the next one. Beckmann raised an issue and said she wanted feedback from the Commission. A person approached Beckmann and said that her young child was consistently being bullied by another child and that the parent felt the School District was not addressing the situation. Beckmann said she has observed bullying in schools herself. Miller asked if the bullying is based on racial differences. Beckmann replied yes and said the District's response was that"the bully does not know what he is doing." She noted this has gone on for months and it was suggested that the parent send the child to the counselor to get"coping skills". The parent said they have done that,but still feels the District did not act in an appropriate way. Maguire asked if the parent has gone through the District directly. Beckmann said the parent had,but bullying still takes place in places such as the playground and lunchroom. Piumbroeck said there is a due process in matters like this and that he would not want to get in between the parents and the District. He suggested them going to the superintendent's office and then the school board. Beckmann said the parent is now enrolling the student in private school. Beckmann noted the recent"lock-down"incident at the High School and that the reported reason for the person coming to campus with a weapon was related to bullying. She said we need to talk about it. Piumbroeck agreed this is a serious problem. Maguire said we could write an article to educate the public on bullying. K\RECORDS\Minutes\Human Rights&Diversity\2004V05.13.04 HRDC Minutes.doc tjw 2 The visiting students were then asked about bullying at the high school. Student A said there is not hatred on campus but there is definitely not"mixing"between the white students and the immigrant groups. He said it is very "clique-ish". He sees the groups getting more and more divided among race lines. The Diversity Fair is well attended, but there is not real participation and people tend to keep to themselves. Student B said there is a lack of integration and the education is not there. Student C said there is "blind ignorance" and that some kids are arrogant and rough sometimes. Student D noted that last year there were several fights between groups of students and among the groups as well. Student E said they particularly see the separation of students in athletics; there are essentially all white teams at EP High. Moroski stated that it would be best to try to educate the students and have it come from this Commission. Student A said with the class size nearing 1,000 kids, you can't know everyone. He also noted that you cannot force educating students; that it would not work to "shove"kids together. Student B said the cliques are generally negative and it is difficult to get to know them. Student C said they did have a diversity forum at the school and maybe it could work again. Strate said we must have more conversations about this and figure out a "cool" way to educate the students. He said it has to have purpose. Beckmann asked the guest students if they have actually seen bullying. Student A said it is sad to say,but many see it as part of the high school experience and there are growing numbers who are physically and verbally abused. Piumbroeck said people need to be held accountable. He said we would like to examine having students come in a talk more about this topic. It will go on the next meeting agenda. Piumbroeck reported that they just awarded the Jean Harris Scholarship to Catherine Wang, a senior at EPHS. He said there is an ongoing issue relating to the funds for this scholarship. Strate said we have enough left for 1 or 2 more,but that is it. He said the original funding came from a variety of sources. The concern is to keep the scholarship ongoing and visible. He has talked to several people in the community and said there has been discussion on moving the fundraising aspect of the scholarship to the private sector. Strate said it may be best to have it handled by the Eden Prairie Foundation. Maguire said this way the City is not handing out money, however we may lose the "Jean Harris" tie. Chung said she would like to find a way to have the Commission have ownership of the program while a private entity can control the funds. Maguire said it feels like it is an ongoing problem to raise $2,000 for the scholarships. Beckmann noted that other City Commission do not have the burden to raise money and she did not know that was part of her"duties" when she applied. Piumbroeck said we need to review possibilities and that the topic needs to be looked at further. Strate said we should get this resolved by the fall. Beckmann invited members to a Civil War re-enactment at the cemetery on June 51h. She said it will be in the Eden Prairie Newspaper. Beckmann invited members to a Civil War re-enactment at the Eden Prairie cemetery on June 5`h VIII. Future Meetings/Events The next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, June 8 at 7:00 p.m. IX. Adiourn The Student Representatives were congratulated and thanked for their efforts on the HRDC. The meeting was adjourned at 9:50 p.m. K\RECORDS\Minutes\Human Rights&Diversity\2004V05.13.04 HRDC Minutes.doc tjw 3