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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuman Rights and Diversity - 09/08/2011 APPROVED MINUTES EDEN PRAIRIE HUMAN RIGHTS AND DIVERSITY COMMISSION THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2011 7:00 P.M., 125 EDEN PRAIRIE CENTER Office of Housing and Human Services COMMISSION MEMBERS: Pam Spera(Chair), Peter Huck (Vice Chair), Linda Crawford, Gayle Sanders, Robert Rozanski, PG Narayanan, and Zina Nourkadi STAFF: Molly Koivumaki, Manager- Housing and Community Services; Heidi Wojahn, Recorder STUDENT REPRESENTATIVES: Ramla Mahamud, Camrie Vlasak I. CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL Chair Spera called the meeting to order at 7:01 p.m. II. APPROVAL OF AGENDA MOTION: Rozanski moved, seconded by Huck, to approve the agenda. Motion carried 6-0. III. MINUTES MOTION: Sanders moved, seconded by Huck, to approve the May 12, 2011 minutes. Motion carried 5-0 with Crawford and Rozanski abstaining. MOTION: Huck moved, seconded by Sanders, to approve the June 9, 2011 minutes. Motion carried 5-0 with Crawford and Rozanski abstaining. MOTION: Rozanski moved, seconded by Huck, to approve the August 4, 2011 minutes. Motion carried 6-0 with Crawford abstaining. IV. NEW BUSINESS None V. REPORTS FROM STAFF - Koivumaki A. HUMAN SERVICES REVIEW COMMITTEE (HSRC) The committee met regarding human services funding for the 2012-2013 budget. A recommendation will move forward to Council on September 20. No issues are anticipated. HUMAN RIGHTS AND DIVERSITY COMMISSION MINUTES September 8, 2011 Page 2 B. BIAS CRIME ACTIVITY STATUS No report. C. OTHER REPORTS FROM STAFF 1. Human Rights Awards Commissioners should start thinking about potential candidates for the 2012 Human Rights Awards. The categories are individual, business, non- profit, and youth. One example is a local business that provided land for employees to tend a garden. The vegetables are picked and given to PROP for distribution. The awards process will be advertised via the Eden Prairie News, City website, and City Council as well as a mailing to the local faith community. 2. League of Minnesota Human Rights Commissions (LMHRC) The League has sent HRDC a video entitled "Sentenced for Life" about the right focus on crime,justice, and second chances. Crawford offered to review the video and will share her opinions of it with the other commissioners. Annual fees are due at the cost of$5.25 per 1000 of the City's population. HRDC needs to consider whether or not to continue membership at this time. Rozanski said he needed more information about the benefits of membership. Koivumaki explained one of the biggest advantages has been the ability to apply for the Bremer grant(which HRDC has been the recipient of in the past). Other benefits include access to a video lending library and resources such as samples of manuals which can be used as references for creating new manuals. The organization also sponsors an annual essay contest. HRDC does not have a budget, so dues would need to come out of the City Manager's budget. Rozanski asked if HRDC could have used the League as a resource for gathering information about the Domestic Partner Registry, for example, rather than going to individual cities. Koivumaki replied the website is being redone,however it is not yet at the point of being a central go-to place for information. There is no paid staff at this time to expedite the process, and volunteer turnover rate is regularly in flux as terms expire. Action ebbs and flows depending on volunteer activity. Rozanski said he doesn't see the sense in joining if there is not much value right now; however, if joining helps move the organization forward so that it is more useful then it might be worth the investment. Spera said the Commission should think about it in terms of more than what just Eden Prairie can gain from it,but rather how the League is of value to the State. Crawford inquired what the League's goals were at inception. Koivumaki said LMHRC started in 1971 when there was a lot going on with Civil HUMAN RIGHTS AND DIVERSITY COMMISSION MINUTES September 8, 2011 Page 3 Rights. The League had a lot of influence to help commissions form and to do training. At the time, there was a lot of energy and political support behind human rights commissions, so LMHRC was active in building and working with communities. Ada Alden, Director of LMHRC, was formerly the Director of Community Education for Eden Prairie Schools. She attended an HRDC meeting in the past and asked the Commission what its needs were. The student representatives told her technology was key including a current website. Narayanan suggested inviting Alden to a Commission meeting to present future plans and justify the membership dues. If HRDC determines the organization is dysfunctional, it should not continue to support it. Every dollar is valuable. If HRDC is convinced by Alden's presentation, then it should support the organization. Crawford said commissions shouldn't need to pay for membership. They should be able to join based solely on the nature of their work. The League should hold fundraisers to generate money instead. Koivumaki said there has been paid part-time staff in the past dependent on additional available funds,but it comes and goes. Mahamud asked what other cities are members of LMHRC. Koivumaki responded there are approximately 50 cities listed on the League's letterhead,but the list may not be current. Although The League distributes videos and other materials put together by the Minnesota Department of Human Rights (MDHR) and the two organizations work together, it is not related to MDHR and is not a government agency. It is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization sustained by memberships and does not receive any funding from the State. Koivumaki will forward commissioner comments to the City Manager tomorrow. 3. Best Buy Grant Balance is $5.10. VI. OLD BUSINESS A. DOMESTIC PARTNER REGISTRY Spera thanked the commissioners for attending the work session. There were some questions raised by councilmembers at the session and Spera was wondering if they required a response from HRDC. One question was about the privacy of those registering as domestic partners and the other had to do with reasons behind the City of Moorhead's decision not to adopt a registry. Moorhead determined the issue should be handled at a state level, not a city level. Huck and Rozanski stated they were under the impression the privacy issue had been addressed by the City Attorney at the work session and that the registry is a matter of public record just like marriages and burials. Nourkadi felt not just anybody should have access to the registry records, with Spera commenting on the possibility of discrimination if the information is public. Sanders added registering is a choice, not a requirement. Narayanan said the matter is out of HRDC's control so time should not be spent discussing it. Koivumaki relayed HUMAN RIGHTS AND DIVERSITY COMMISSION MINUTES September 8, 2011 Page 4 information she received from the City Manager. The Council may be looking for more details on implementation but the proposal is ready to go before Council at its October 18 or November 15 meeting. Koivumaki explained implementation and other details would be handled by staff internally. It will be an agenda item and, as required, an official notice will be placed in the Eden Prairie News alerting residents to an upcoming public hearing. There will likely be only one reading. HRDC would not repeat its presentation,but commissioners should plan to be on hand to answer questions with Spera coming forward as Chair of the Commission. Crawford had concerns someone seeing the item in the paper for the first time without the background information might be naive about the issue and be prompted to speak against the registry. Rozanski asked if there were any supportive groups HRDC should invite to the Council meeting. Spera suggested OutFront Minnesota. B. MANIFESTO WORDING CHANGE Commissioners discussed the workshop and shared opinions on how the information was received by the City Council. Koivumaki reported City Attorney, Ric Rosow, offered three alternative wordings as possibilities to consider for the Manifesto. Crawford, Huck, Spera, and Rozanski all thought the third option was the best of the three with Spera commenting it most closely resembled her previous suggestion of"lack thereof'. Rozanski added it was the least disruptive and wordy, however, he would prefer to see the statement end after the word "security" and drop the following qualifiers altogether. That is the only way to truly be inclusive of everyone. Narayanan agreed. Spera had concerns about eliminating the qualifiers because without them, intolerance of discrimination isn't emphasized. It waters down the impact. Rozanski disagreed stating he felt just the opposite was true. Given all the time spent on the proposal to date, Spera said she felt no need to rush into a decision and wanted commissioners to think about the wording for a month before making any further recommendations. Sanders and Huck said the issue had been discussed at length with Nourkadi agreeing the time to act was now. Rozanski said he would be okay with making a decision tonight. Huck suggested Koivumaki inform the City Manager of the meeting discussion and ask how to proceed. Koivumaki agreed to do this as well as mention the Commission will pick it up again next month. VII. REPORTS FROM COMMISSION MEMBERS Crawford has an autographed copy of Dr. Leo Parvis' book on cultural diversity. She will bring it to the next meeting for HRDC to hold in its library. She suggested inviting Parvis to talk at a future meeting. VIII. FUTURE MEETINGS/EVENTS The next HRDC meeting will be Thursday, October 13, 2011, 7 p.m. at Eden Prairie Center, Room 125. HUMAN RIGHTS AND DIVERSITY COMMISSION MINUTES September 8, 2011 Page 5 IX. ADJOURNMENT MOTION: Rozanski moved, seconded by Narayanan, to adjourn. Motion carried 6-0. Chair Spera adjourned the meeting at 8:26 p.m.