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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuman Rights and Diversity - 05/13/2010 APPROVED MINUTES EDEN PRAIRIE HUMAN RIGHTS AND DIVERSITY COMMISSION THURSDAY, MAY 13, 2010 7:00 P.M., 125 EDEN PRAIRIE CENTER Office of Housing and Human Services COMMISSION MEMBERS: Pam Spera(Chair), Marcy Harris (Vice Chair), Peter Huck, Linda Crawford, Lauren Juergensen, Gayle Sanders and Robert Rozanski STAFF: Molly Koivumaki, Manager- Housing and Community Services; Heidi Wojahn, Recorder STUDENT REPRESENTATIVES: Adam Liter, Muna Shire and Fardowsa Ali I. CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL Chair Spera called the meeting to order at 7:07 p.m. Commissioners Linda Crawford, Lauren Juergensen, and Gayle Sanders were excused from this evening's meeting. Student Representatives Fardowsa Ali and Muna Shire were absent. II. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Agenda approved by informal consent. III. MINUTES Rozanski requested his status be changed from "absent" to "excused" for the April 8, 2010 HRDC meeting. Amended minutes approved by informal consent. IV. NEW BUSINESS Spera welcomed new commissioner Rozanski and asked him to introduce himself. V. REPORTS FROM STAFF - Koivumaki A. HUMAN SERVICES REVIEW COMMITTEE (HSRC) A motion was made at the May 3 meeting to allocate $3,000 in Community Development Block Grant(CDBG) funds to the vehicle repair program administered by Community Action Partnership of Suburban Hennepin (CAPSH). This recommendation will go before City Council at a public hearing on June 15. B. BIAS CRIME ACTIVITY STATUS No report HUMAN RIGHTS AND DIVERSITY COMMISSION MINUTES May 13, 2010 Page 2 C. OTHER REPORTS FROM STAFF 1. Human Rights Awards Presentation Presentation of the awards will take place at the City Council meeting on Tuesday, May 18 at 7 p.m. Spera will read the citations for each recipient and Mayor Young will present the plaques. This year's recipients are Kerry Holtmeier Hallee, Coordinator- FamiLink Resource Center, and Gardner Gay, Executive Director—A Better Chance Foundation in the individual category; City Hill Tutoring in the non-profit category; and SouthWest Transit in the business category. Hospitality and picture- taking will occur afterwards. Attendance is encouraged. 2. League of Minnesota Human Rights Commissions (LMHRC) Meeting The quarterly meeting will take place Saturday, May 15 in Chaska. Koivumaki has been asked to present the Religious Holiday Calendar concept HRDC developed in 2009. 3. Conflict Resolution Training An outline was distributed for review and discussion. The word "factual" was added before the word "brief" in the second to the last paragraph. 4. Kids Against Hunger Campaisn The Mayor has proposed involving the Kids Against Hunger organization to hold an event in Eden Prairie this summer. The goal is to raise $230,000 from local schools, churches, and the business community to cover the cost of preparing and sending 1 million meals to Haiti. The event would take place July 14-19 at Rink 3 at the Community Center, and 3,500 school-age volunteers would be needed. Koivumaki is concerned this may hurt fundraising efforts for local groups, especially People Reaching Out to Other People (PROP), and has suggested to City Manager Scott Neal the event be done in conjunction with a food drive for the local food shelf to help offset any potential negative impact since demand is at its greatest during the summer months. 5. City Council Workshop Commissioners were invited to a Human Services Funding presentation Koivumaki will make to City Council at its workshop on May 18, 5:30- 6:15 p.m. in the Heritage Room at City Center. The goal is to demonstrate how the two funding streams, CDBG and General Fund, are used to fund social services agencies providing direct services to Eden Prairie residents. HUMAN RIGHTS AND DIVERSITY COMMISSION MINUTES May 13, 2010 Page 3 6. Grant Award The Office of Housing and Community Services received a $1,500 grant from the Eden Prairie Foundation for a computer and software for the Employment Support Center(ESC) which will operate out of Koivumaki's office. Another grant for two additional computers and software has been submitted to a different foundation. The ESC will provide computer training for people (not on a drop-in basis) who need assistance completing online applications, resume writing, and other employment services. Tutors for the program will be volunteers from area churches and businesses. Koivumaki stressed this is not a duplication of services being offered at the Minnesota WorkForce Center. The plan initially is to start with one day per week, one hour per person, two shifts accommodating six people in an afternoon on three computers. A summertime launch is anticipated. PROP will also likely be adding a computer to its resource room for people who wish to fill out applications online,but training on how to do so will be provided at ESC. Given his human resources background, Rozanski volunteered to help with this venture. Harris suggested partnering with Adult Options in Education because they may be able to provide computer training. 7. Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) Officials from the WIC nutrition program visited Koivumaki's office last week on a mission to determine whether it is a suitable site for a WIC satellite office. PROP and the Hennepin County Service Center are also being considered as possible Eden Prairie sites. The closest WIC office is in Hopkins which is difficult for clients to reach because there is no direct bus service to that area. 8. Best Buy Grant Balance is $5.10. 9. Bias Crime Lake St. Croix Beach recently experienced a bias crime in the area and requested a copy of Eden Prairie's manifesto from Koivumaki. VI. OLD BUSINESS A. City Communication Materials Huck distributed a recommendation he drafted regarding the lack of diversity evident on the City's website under the Video TourBook tabs and in its promotional materials. All agreed there was no need for changes to the content of the document. Discussion took place regarding the format and whether it was an HUMAN RIGHTS AND DIVERSITY COMMISSION MINUTES May 13, 2010 Page 4 issue needing to be addressed by City management or Council. Koivumaki explained since the website and printed marketing materials are produced by the Communications Department which falls under the charge of the City Manager, perhaps it need go no further than Scott Neal. She will give Neal a heads up to expect forthcoming information and ask what format he thinks is best. B. Grant Report Koivumaki is waiting for information from the school district regarding the April 29 Honoring Cultures event. Once received, she will incorporate the number of attendees and feedback from evaluations into a report for the Minnesota Department of Human Rights. Harris will check to see if there is a deadline by when the report must be submitted as a follow-up to the grant awarded to HRDC. C. St. Cloud Koivumaki reported St. Cloud has been in news reports recently with a number of racially-motivated incidents at the high school level involving Somalis. She asked if there was some sort of outreach the Commission could do to serve in a supportive role without stepping on anyone's toes. She will look to LMHRC for leadership in terms of possibly pairing groups together for mentoring and/or mutual aid and investigate whether St. Cloud has its own human rights commission. Huck suggested perhaps St. Cloud might want to consider hosting an event similar to the Honoring Cultures one recently held in Eden Prairie. VII. REPORTS FROM COMMISSION MEMBERS Koivumaki announced there will be a free Human Rights Regional Forum open to the public on Thursday, May 27, 5:30-7 p.m. at the Roseville Skating Center. Harris reported CAPSH will be having an open house/25 h anniversary event the same evening from 4-6 p.m. in St. Louis Park. CAPSH serves low-income residents of suburban Hennepin County with needs in the areas of energy assistance, foreclosure prevention, and vehicle repair. VIII. FUTURE MEETINGS/EVENTS The next HRDC meeting will be Thursday, June 10, 2010, 7 p.m. at Eden Prairie Center, Room 125. IX. ADJOURNMENT MOTION: Rozanski moved, seconded by Huck to adjourn. Motion carried by informal consent. Chair Spera adjourned the meeting at 8:30 p.m.