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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuman Rights and Diversity - 09/17/2002 APPROVED MINUTES Eden Prairie Human Rights & Diversity Commission Tuesday, September 17, 2002 7:00 PM - Prairie Rooms A/B, City Center 8080 Mitchell Road, Eden Prairie MN 55344 Commission Members: Holly Clynch, Dorothy Fifield, Angie Garcia, Balu Iyer, Harry Moran (Chair), Jeff Strate, and Philip Young (Vice-Chair) Commission Staff: Michael Barone, Assistant to the City Manager Tanya Whitsitt, Recording Secretary Moran called the meeting to order at 7:05 p.m. I. Roll Call ® Dorothy Fifield ® Harry Moran ® Philip Young ❑ Angie Garcia ® Holly Clynch ® Jeff Strate ® Balu Iyer ® Michael Barone ® Tanya Whitsitt II. Approval of Agenda Fifield moved, seconded by Young to approve the agenda as published. Motion carried: 6—0 III. Approval of Minutes from June 11, 2002 meeting Strate proposed adding the text, "Strate suggested the Youth Scholarship Award should be at least$1,000" to Item VI. A.,paragraph 1 in the June 11, 2002 meeting minutes. Strate moved, seconded by Iyer to approve the minutes as amended. Motion carried: 6—0 IV. Reports of Staff A. Eden Prairie Immigrant Services Group (EPISG) Barone was unable to attend the last EPISG meeting,but will include the agenda and minutes in the next meeting packet. B. Human Services Review Committee (HSRC) Barone said he attended the last HSRC meeting held on September 9, and he distributed the agenda and minutes from that meeting to the Commission. The main item for discussion at the meeting was the 3% maximum increase in funding, if requested, from participants currently receiving funding from the City. This is the second year of a two-year budget cycle for the City, and that is what is budgeted for an Eden Prairie Human Rights&Diversity Commission Minutes September 17,2002 Page 2 increase in 2003. Not all participants requested a 3% increase,but most did. All participants wanting funds in 2004 will be required to submit an RFP in June-August 2003. Also, David Lindahl has stepped down as the Chair of the HSRC, as he has a new position with the City, Economic Development Manager, due to the July 1 reorganization announced by the City Manager, Scott Neal. He does not have responsibility for the Human Services tasks anymore; Molly Koivumaki in Police will take his place in that area. The next meeting of the HSRC is scheduled for October 7. C. Bias Crime Activity Status Nothing to report. V. Old Business A. Discussion on Reformatting YSA Process and Criteria for 2002—2003 Barone distributed a draft version of a new application form for the Youth Scholarship Award. He said the commission should discuss ideas to improve the old process, with the goal of finding ways to better understand and evaluate the student's qualifications, and how those qualifications relate to the stated intentions of the Manifesto. One suggestion is to have applicants detail their volunteer activities using the grid on the draft of the new application form. This is a way for students to describe their activities and show their commitment. Another suggested change could be to ask students to list the other scholarships applied for and/or awarded. Moran asked why we need to know about other scholarships, and is that a criteria which will define the applicant? Strate responded that it may be of interest to know,but that looking at the standard qualifications should be done foremost and the other items are "extra". Barone said currently students are asked to submit a short essay describing how the Eden Prairie Manifesto relates to their volunteer activities and what the Manifesto means to them. Fifield commented that she likes the emphasis on the Manifesto. She stated that in the past some students have referred to it,but she sees the Manifesto as the more important part. In addition, two letters of recommendation are required. Clynch said the letters sometimes sound wonderful,but some do not address the Manifesto. She also asked if we should ask the students for a contact name and phone number of a volunteer supervisor to check on the validity of their statements. Strate and Clynch agreed this could be another level of accountability. Young said he felt this was perhaps over-complicating the process. Fifield said she believes that any young person who takes the time to fill out the application has got to be a "good kid". Moran said he likes to idea of having a leader write a letter. Clynch said she thinks maybe one letter should be required to be directly from a volunteer supervisor or leader and that it also might give us a better picture of a person's involvement. Moran said he wants to be cautious not to "go overboard", yet he wants to see that a person is 2 Eden Prairie Human Rights&Diversity Commission Minutes September 17,2002 Page 3 genuine. He thinks a letter from a leader validates that a student has volunteered and additional information (like a contact number) may be repetitive. Fifield raised the point that the draft says that one of the letters is "preferred" to be from a volunteer leader,but does not say it is "required." Young asked if this means that if a student does not submit one if these letters, does that mean their application is not looked at as much? Strate recommended asking for two letters from college application letters in addition to one letter from a volunteer organization which would speak to the ideals in the Eden Prairie Manifesto. Fifield said she is happy with the language of the draft as is and would not change it. Barone said that another suggestion from Garcia is to have a short interview of the applicants. Moran said the issue is that we are trying to keep this anonymous and the commission members may know the student or family of the student, so he does not recommend this. Also, Moran asked about changing the word "church" on the draft application, so it does not show a preference to any particular religion. Barone said he would change it to "religious institutions". Strate suggested possibly adding business or workplace-related volunteer activities to the application. He said an activity promoted by the workplace could fit in this category and could generate more interest in students applying for this scholarship. Moran said that in the past the Student Representatives have given good input and ideas on this and other topics. He said there is much to discuss and suggested moving forward, leaving it open to finalize the process when the Student Representatives come on board at the November meeting. B. Review of DiverseCity on the Prairie Barone and several commission members attended DiverseCity on the Prairie on August 18. He said attendance was down from last year, and thought it may be due to the PGA Golf Championship that was taking place at the same time in Chaska. Clynch said she believes this year's event was not publicized as much. She said that even though we currently try to get entertainment groups from Eden Prairie, maybe we could broaden the scope and get groups from around the metro area that represent groups who live in Eden Prairie. This could create a bigger draw. Barone said also that the event is a hard sell for restaurants to come and participate. Fifield agreed there was less food selection. Moran noted that the weather was nice,but that the lack of flow of activities could also have contributed to less interest and attendance. He said bigger crowds have come in the past,but this year diversity did not seem to be promoted as much. Strate questioned if we should "re-think" this event. Barone replied this is a Parks & Recreation event, tied into the Staring Lake Concert series each year,but this commission could make recommendations. Clynch stated she would have liked to have been given more information and the opportunity to be more 3 Eden Prairie Human Rights&Diversity Commission Minutes September 17,2002 Page 4 involved in the event. Moran suggested discussing the planning of this event more with Tria Mann in Parks & Recreation, and working on it earlier in the year. Barone said he will ask Mann to attend an earlier Human Rights and Diversity Commission meeting next year to get good ideas and begin planning. C. League Of Minnesota Human Rights Commission Annual Conference On Saturday, September 28, 2002 At Minneapolis Urban League Building Barone reported that Iyer will represent this commission at the annual conference and will give a report at the next meeting. VI. New Business A. Discussion On Commission Staff Liaison Chance Barone stated when the new City Manager, Scott Neal,began on April 29, one of his first tasks was to evaluate the current structure of the Management Services Area. After his evaluation, Neal announced his plan for reorganization on July 1, which included Barone moving from the position of Manager of Human Resources to Assistant to the City Manager in the Office of the City Manager department. A process to staff back Barone's previous position is underway, with the new HR Manager scheduled to begin in mid-October. Also as part of the reorganization, Neal has placed David Lindahl in the newly created position of Economic Development Manager. Lindahl's previous duties included handling Human Services work, including chairing the Human Services Review Committee (reported on in IV. B.). Those human services duties and the Barone's staff liaison duties for the Human Rights & Diversity Commission will now be handled by Molly Koivumaki. Molly is the Manager of Public Safety Support Services in the Eden Prairie Police department. Koivumaki will be coming to the meetings for the rest of this year,beginning with the October meeting. Meanwhile, Barone stated he will help her in the transition. Moran thanked Barone for his years of service as Staff Liaison to the Human Rights and Diversity Commission. VII. Reports from Commission Members None. VIII. Future Meetings/Events • September 28, 2002 8:30 a.m. — 3:30 p.m. League of Minnesota Human Rights Commissions 31sr Annual meeting,held at Minneapolis Urban League, 2100 Plymouth Avenue North, Minneapolis, MN. • October 15, 2002 7:00 p.m. HRDC meeting at City Center. • November 12, 2002 7:00 p.m. HRDC meeting at City Center. 4 Eden Prairie Human Rights&Diversity Commission Minutes September 17,2002 Page 5 IX. Adiourn Clynch moved, seconded by Fifield to adjourn the meeting. Motion carried 6—0. Moran adjourned the meeting at 8:29 p.m. 5