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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuman Rights and Diversity - 01/10/2013 APPROVED MINUTES EDEN PRAIRIE HUMAN RIGHTS AND DIVERSITY COMMISSION THURSDAY,JANUARY 10, 2013 7:00 P.M., 125 EDEN PRAIRIE CENTER Office of Housing and Human Services COMMISSION MEMBERS: Pam Spera (Chair), PG Narayanan, Zina Nourkadi, Hans Gustafson, and Laura Kaczmarek STAFF: Molly Koivumaki, Manager- Housing and Community Services; Heidi Wojahn, Recorder STUDENT REPRESENTATIVES: Camrie Vlasak, Kristina Busch, Jamie Bernard I. CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL Chair Spera called the meeting to order at 7:02 p.m. Student Representatives Bernard and Vlasak were absent. II. APPROVAL OF AGENDA MOTION: Narayanan moved, seconded Nourkadi, to approve the agenda. Motion carried 5-0. III. MINUTES MOTION: Nourkadi moved, seconded by Spera, to approve the November 8, 2012 minutes. Motion carried by informal consent. IV. NEW BUSINESS Kaczmarek reviewed her online research of Compassionate Action Network International, an organization that started in 2010 in Seattle, and distributed copies of its charter. It is a worldwide network of individuals, organizations, and cities with a tagline of"Peace Starts Here". It is all about bringing the golden rule to life. To become an official partner, cities and organizations have to apply by answering a few questions and signing the charter. Not every applicant will be approved,but cities that are not official partners may borrow from the network's documents and resources to run their own compassionate campaigns. Trademark status is unclear. Proclamations are not required of partner cities,but the network does want to know what cities are doing to further the cause. There are currently six partner cities in the U.S. with over 50 actively organizing worldwide, and over 92,000 individuals and organizations have signed the charter. The network has a newsletter and a Facebook (FB) page with 80,000 likes. Discussion ensued. HUMAN RIGHTS AND DIVERSITY COMMISSION MINUTES January 10, 2013 Page 2 Spera and Gustafson questioned the religious aspects of the charter, while Nourkadi and Kaczmarek raised concerns over the subjective language. Nourkadi also expressed reservations about the unclear standards of the acceptance process. Koivumaki agreed it is probably not something HRDC can pursue with the religious component. Spera thanked Kaczmarek for her research. Nourkadi reported she had received a letter from the West Metro Education Program (WMEP) notifying parents of an opportunity to have their students apply to one of two inter-district magnet schools. It is unclear whether the letter was targeted towards certain people or sent out district-wide. While she likes the multicultural/interdisciplinary/arts approach offered, she is somewhat bothered that integration is still being discussed in 2013. The same program should be offered in every school so students can be with all kinds of kids and learn from one another rather than having to be shipped out of district and separated. It needs discussion at a certain level. The timing of the letter is confusing, too. Koivumaki said she can check with the district to get more information on who it was sent to, what is behind it, and what FAIR stands for and report back. Busch added Eden Prairie High School (EPHS) has a diversity club and fair. V. REPORTS FROM STAFF A. HUMAN SERVICES REVIEW COMMITTEE (HSRC) No report. B. BIAS CRIME ACTIVITY STATUS No report. C. OTHER REPORTS FROM STAFF 1. Commissioner Resisnation Koivumaki received notice from Commissioner Rozanski earlier today of his resignation from HRDC. No additional information was immediately available. There will be three openings to fill in March and recruiting starts now. Spera volunteered to serve again if needed but said she wants to give others the opportunity. 2. New Programs There are a couple programs available via Koivumaki's office. One consists of quarterly meetings with presentations on topics relevant to Somali moms. Last week's meeting on domestic violence was well-attended. The other is a citizenship class in which an adult learner teacher pairs with a Chinese volunteer who is an EPHS student to help prepare Chinese people to take the citizenship test. This ten-week class could expand to other ethnicities in the future. HUMAN RIGHTS AND DIVERSITY COMMISSION MINUTES January 10, 2013 Page 3 3. 2013 Work Plan HRDC needs to prepare a work plan to present at the Council Workshop on February 5. Koivumaki reviewed a sample work plan noting it is a working document and a commission document. As staff liaison, it is not her role to determine what goes into the work plan or to see that items are implemented; however some suggestions for things to include are the Human Rights Awards, Who Are Your Neighbors Series, and One Voice Minnesota Project. This month kicks off the Human Rights Awards process and the whole commission has a responsibility to search for viable candidates. The Who Are Your Neighbors Series is a joint effort between community education and the staff in Koivumaki's office, but commissioners are needed to take a more active role in attending and participating in the events. The next event is in early May and will highlight the Somali culture. It will be more of a youth-oriented event focusing on cultural understanding from an arts perspective. The subsequent event will take place in November. One Voice Minnesota is a local network promoting welcoming communities. They are interested in sending a representative to speak to HRDC about their initiative, and it needs further research. Narayanan recommended HRDC start a FB page. Spera and Nourkadi agreed this would be a good way to interact with or receive feedback from the community, although Spera asked if this would violate the open meeting law. Kaczmarek said it would also need a moderator. Koivumaki will check with the city manager to see if the commission can get its own FB page or if it should be a branch of the City's FB page or website. She will also investigate the public meeting aspect. Nourkadi suggested holding special public meetings where citizens are specifically encouraged to bring forth issues for discussion. Narayanan supported this idea emphasizing special marketing and publicity efforts would be needed. It could be similar to the town hall format recently used by Council but focus on human rights and diversity. Koivumaki said it would need to be called something else,but it might fit into the community liaison activity on the work plan. Nourkadi suggested HRDC work with other commissions. Koivumaki said they have partnered with Bloomington in the past. Narayanan supported the idea saying commissioners could attend one another's meetings and brainstorm. This would be separate from the community liaison activity. Spera said she likes the idea of reaching out to others,but that may be difficult with the commission's limited funding. It might require coming up with a more structured plan (such as the shows sponsored by HRDC during Black History Month in the past) and targeting specific organizations and doing citizen outreach to make it more inviting. Nourkadi said inviting speakers may provide an incentive to draw people in. Koivumaki stressed she can provide guidance and update the work plan as directed by HRDC,but the commissioners need to take on the bulk of the work. It would be good to have an educational component to each meeting,but there needs HUMAN RIGHTS AND DIVERSITY COMMISSION MINUTES January 10, 2013 Page 4 to be planning and collaboration around the preparation of each agenda. The work plan will be an ongoing agenda item. Tasks were divided as follows: Social media—Narayanan and Busch (Kaczmarek—alternate) Who Are Your Neighbors series —Spera and Nourkadi Inter-city collaboration with other commissions - Kaczmarek One Voice Minnesota - Everyone (review and answer One Voice questionnaire as individuals/share ideas at next month's meeting); Kaczmarek (make contact with organization and invite to do presentation at future meeting) Community Outreach (Liaison Activity) — Gustafson and Narayanan Presentations —Koivumaki Narayanan asked Koivumaki to put an outreach event on the work plan for October. One issue is there is no vehicle for reaching community groups to get the word out. Kaczmarek concurred a contact list needs to be developed. Koivumaki said she understands this is a problem across the board. She will add it to the work plan and said Joyce Lorenz in communications may have some insight to share with the commission in this area. Commissioners should let Koivumaki know if they have ideas for presentations of interest. Lorenz might also be able to confirm whether presentation topics can be posted on the city calendar or not. 4. Human Rights Awards Koivumaki distributed copies of the Human Rights Award application and Manifesto. They will be on the city website, and she will send commissioners links to the website and documents. Nominees must serve Eden Prairie. 5. Best Buy Grant $5.10 remaining. VI. OLD BUSINESS None. VII. REPORTS FROM COMMISSION MEMBERS None. VIII. FUTURE MEETINGS/EVENTS The next HRDC meeting will be Thursday, February 14, 2013, 7 p.m. at Eden Prairie Center, Room 125. IX. ADJOURNMENT MOTION: Kaczmarek, seconded by Narayanan, to adjourn. Motion carried 5-0. Chair Spera adjourned the meeting at 8:51 p.m.