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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuman Rights and Diversity - 09/10/2015 APPROVED MINUTES EDEN PRAIRIE HUMAN RIGHTS AND DIVERSITY COMMISSION THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2015 7:00 P.M., 125 EDEN PRAIRIE CENTER Office of Housing and Human Services COMMISSION MEMBERS: Sandra Filardo (Chair), PG Narayanan (Vice Chair), Tonj a Bivins, Jenny Buckland, Sana Elassar, Connie Iacovelli, Greg Leeper STAFF: Patricia Fenrick, Staff Heidi Wojahn, Recording Secretary STUDENT REPRESENTATIVES: Tanvi Mehta, Tala Alfoqaha, Sarah Mason, Adrienne Retzlaff L CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL Vice Chair Narayanan called the meeting to order at 7:02 p.m. Leeper arrived at 7:04 p.m. Bivins and Filardo arrived at 7:30 p.m. II. APPROVAL OF AGENDA MOTION: Elassar moved, seconded by Buckland, to approve the agenda. Motion carried 4-0. III. APPROVAL OF MINUTES MOTION: Iacovelli moved, seconded by Buckland, to approve the June 11, 2015 minutes. Motion carried 3-0-1 with Elassar abstaining. Leeper arrived at 7:04 p.m. IV. PARKS AND REC EVENTS — Guests Nicole Minton and Lindsay Danhauser Fenrick introduced Nicole Minton with Parks and Recreation and Lindsay Danhauser with the Arts Center and explained they would be talking about the City's summer programming in terms of what exists and how HRDC can be engaged. Danhauser said in addition to the Arts Center, she works with community theater and band, public art, and other related events. She distributed brochures from the City's 2015 entertainment series. Minton said her role is special events, adaptive programs, and inclusion services from early childhood to seniors. The programming promotes access for all and she works with individuals needing accommodations to provide support. Danhauser stated she, Minton, and Molly Koivumaki previously worked together on the International Festival. HRDC and the Arts and Culture Commission at one time came to HUMAN RIGHTS AND DIVERSITY COMMISSION MINUTES September 10, 2015 Page 2 the realization they didn't want to celebrate diversity only on one day, but rather wanted to integrate it into all events. As a result, seven of 21 evening concerts held at Staring Lake are now designated to international groups. The average budget for each concert is about$500. Other events incorporating music are Arts in the Park in the springtime and 4th of July. Minton said the City has an opportunity to incorporate food and music into a majority of events offered. Green Fair and Arbor Day has been expanded, and music could be incorporated into that, for example. Music and food bring people together. Fenrick said one of the issues with planning is there are currently no free weekends in the schedule. Minton noted the calendar is not inclusive of everything they do. Throughout the year Parks and Rec averages around 50 events. This doesn't take into consideration events sponsored by other organizations such as the Lions or the several tournaments hosted for athletic associations and adult athletics. Space becomes an issue, too. Leeper asked about the status of the 2016 schedule. Danhauser said it will be finalized later this fall, but they would like input on layering existing events to be inclusive to what HRDC is interested in. Fenrick said due to space and time constraints, the Commission could be more engaged in existing programming by providing names of groups and artists to present at Staring Lake and by thinking about how to increase diversity within the attendance. The International Festival has not drawn very many Caucasians, whereas other events have consisted primarily of white audiences. Iacovelli said she has been seeing more color at the 4th of July event. Danhauser said audiences are surveyed at each concert. Drawing a more diverse audience would provide more diverse input. Survey information is used to determine future bookings. Buckland asked if there is a master calendar including events besides just arts. Danhauser said the City website has one that includes everything from commission meetings to bigger community events such as those put on by the Rotary, Lions, and Lionesses. Additional publicity is done in the form of road signs, flyers thru schools, brochures, and e-blasts. Fenrick said different communities receive information different ways. For example Somali use word of mouth, while targeted flyers and emails have been used for the Indian community. HRDC can participate by tapping into its networks since mainstream methods of advertising are not always the best way to draw the biggest crowd. Narayanan said he wouldn't want to take anything away from existing programming, but he is a big proponent of an International Day rather than diluting it into several smaller events targeted to different groups over several different days. Other communities have them, and it would bring a mix of all people. Burnsville's event brings in the biggest attendance outside of July 4. Minton noted Burnsville's event is a strong collaborative effort. Something of that magnitude is too big for Parks and Rec to pull off on its own. Narayanan confirmed it is a community-wide event with a large volunteer effort, and it is possible to raise money for such an event. Leeper agreed a stand-alone event is warranted. Integration is important. Narayanan said a bigger multi-cultural impact is needed. Kids programming is key and will get adults to attend. Fenrick asked how International Festival planning worked in the past. Minton said she and Danhauser inherited it. The planning group consisted of members from the Human HUMAN RIGHTS AND DIVERSITY COMMISSION MINUTES September 10, 2015 Page 3 Rights and Diversity and Arts and Culture Commissions as well as Community Ed. Danhauser said activities for kids, stage entertainment and food were all part of the event, but costs proved prohibitive for food vendors to participate and meet Hennepin County's codes. In addition, the amount of people it drew per day wasn't enough of a guarantee to make vendors commit. Also, people tend to go to bigger events around the metro rather than smaller community events. Parks and Rec owns a food trailer and there has been discussion around bringing in guest chefs from local restaurants. That might help solve the food problem. Minton asked if HRDC has thought about its goals for such an event. Narayanan said it has not but rather is just in the information-gathering stages. It would definitely need to be a collaborative effort to get the maximum amount of help. Bivins and Filardo arrived at 7:30 p.m. Fenrick said she would gather information on actual vendor costs. The Commission can brainstorm partners it might be able to collaborate with on an International Festival as there is not enough manpower for the City to handle it alone. For existing programs, HRDC can create a list of potential artists and be intentional about advertising to communities that might not get information through mainstream publicity. Narayanan asked which events would be the best to start with. Danhauser said the concert series and Arts in the Park. Elassar said expanding the food choices to include kosher or Chai would draw an entirely different community. Fenrick suggested a vegetarian option. Narayanan asked if people come to these events primarily because of the artist. Danhauser said she has found it is not so much about the performer, but rather there is a large core group of people who attend regularly. They do it for the community and because they want to see their neighbors and sit outside and listen to music. She would like to broaden their horizons and expose them to new groups. Fenrick said she would like to be able to give potential artists and their contact information to Danhauser. Danhauser said she has a specific application artists can submit. Narayanan asked Danhauser to forward a brief write-up and link to the application to him and he will send it to his contacts. Danhauser said she would also like a list of new options for the food trailer. Narayanan asked what Danhauser and Minton need from the Commission to make an International Day happen. Fenrick reiterated Parks and Rec cannot do it. The HRDC needs to identify groups it could partner with and determine a budget. It will involve a significant amount of planning on the Commission's part. Elassar stated there is a clear distinction between integration and inclusion. We do not want to stop just at integration, but be mindful of being more inclusive. She asked Minton how many people from the disabled community attend the City's events. Minton said a handful of faces she recognizes through serving them but, from a sensory perspective, concerts with a large audience aren't always the most desirable place to bring a child. Elassar said she was thinking more along the lines of anyone who is blind, deaf, or in a wheelchair who happens upon an event in the park. Minton said she does not attend every event and therefore doesn't have those statistics. Elassar asked about survey responses. HUMAN RIGHTS AND DIVERSITY COMMISSION MINUTES September 10, 2015 Page 4 Danhauser said there is not a specific question on the survey about disabilities. Hearing amplification and seating accommodations are available but there are not any concrete numbers of people taking advantage of these services. Minton said they try to make accommodations if at all possible, but there is a process involved. They have not been recording or tracking requests or usage and it is not included in the survey results. Fenrick said HRDC will be partnering with two groups of parents of children with disabilities for the November community cinema film. This would be a good opportunity to ask them, as a community, how best to reach out to them rather than waiting for them to ask for help. Introductions took place. V. INTERFAITH GROUP —Guest Shari Steffen Steffen talked about the history of the Interfaith Thanksgiving Celebrations in Eden Prairie held over the past decade. She said these programs typically consisted of readings from the sacred writings of various faith communities, music from the various traditions, participation by children's choirs, dancing by Eden Prairie youth and a message of solidarity and thanksgiving delivered by a clergy person from the host community. They were well-attended and included taking up a collection for PROP. Last year they took a break and have recently discussed the idea of creating something different to celebrate the community and its diversity, possibly with an ecology or social justice theme. It could be in the form of developing a number of projects in which faith communities could participate. There will not be an interfaith service this year, but it could return in the future. Anything is possible. The reason for coming to HRDC is three-fold: 1) The hope is for a core group of planners to form an association with 50136 status allowing receipt of donations to support the interfaith effort rather than individual faith communities owning it on a rotating basis. Collaboration will help the event(s) become more grounded in the community and will help attain the goal of expanding the diversity of the group as well as create space for groups yet to join. An attempt to contact all 21 faith communities in Eden Prairie has been made with the hope of gaining their participation in planning. 2) The group wishes to partner with HRDC as the sponsored event(s) should be connected to ongoing participation in service to the Eden Prairie community. HRDC can help the group better understand the needs of the community and offer insight into the issues and challenges facing the community. They want a broader appeal to involve more of Eden Prairie, not just religious communities. 3) The work they have done in the past is in alignment with the HRDC's mission, and they want to help the Commission further its goals. They also hope HRDC members will be ambassadors for the event(s)in the community and in their own respective faith communities. In essence the two would promote each other's goals. Specifically they would be asking for cross advertising and scheduling, verbal support in the community, and input on what kinds of things the Commission thinks faith communities could take on to support the goals of both groups. Iacovelli is representing HUMAN RIGHTS AND DIVERSITY COMMISSION MINUTES September 10, 2015 Page 5 one of the faith communities and can serve as a liaison between the interfaith group and HRDC. Iacovelli stated she is unable to be at the next interfaith meeting but opened it up to other commissioners to attend and represent HRDC in her place. The meeting is Monday, September 28, 6 p.m., at Pax Christi Catholic Community, door 3, in the MLK room. Elassar mentioned current events relating to the environment and asked Steffen to talk a little bit more about the group's vision in terms of ecology and social justice. Steffen said one idea was to have an earth day celebration or coming together of the community around ecological issues. Elassar said she will try to attend the next meeting. VI. REPORTS OF STAFF -Fenrick A. SPIRIT OF EDEN PRAIRIE AWARD The City is looking for resident volunteers to judge the new annual Spirit of Eden Prairie Award nominations at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, October 7. Those interested can use this link for additional information: http://www.edenprairie.org/city- government/departments/community-development/spirit-of-eden-prairie-award and Fenrick will send the link electronically to the Commission. The idea behind it is to recognize a green, beautiful, and livable physical property. Narayanan and Leeper expressed interest. MISCELLANEOUS Unlike other cities, Eden Prairie does not currently require fair housing training for landlords of privately-owned rentals. Fenrick has submitted a proposal to Council to require participation in fair housing training as part of getting a rental license. She has the support of Inspections, and there are sufficient issues and tensions with local private landlords and renters who don't understand their rights and responsibilities to warrant it. Buckland asked how open sign-up would be. Fenrick said this covers rental rights and is geared specifically towards landlords, but she is open to the idea of providing tenant training as well. Buckland said there is a need for education in regards to renter advocacy. Fenrick said she serves on the writing committee helping ECHO put together a tenants' rights training film in multiple languages. It can be expanded upon with Homeline, an organization the City supports. Buckland there is also a collaborative effort just starting with the Jewish community. They are applying for funding. Fenrick stated according to the Commission's charter, the HRDC reviews ADA grievance forms. She hasn't been able to locate the form but she will work on finding it and getting it on the City's website and then will provide training on what the process would be if a grievance was filed. Elassar asked Fenrick to forward the form to her and she will pass it along to Ken Rodgers, Disability Programs Coordinator for the Minnesota Department of Transportation. The City's website is not currently accessible for people with disabilities but it should be easy for IT to fix. Fenrick suggested brainstorming a list with Elassar of HUMAN RIGHTS AND DIVERSITY COMMISSION MINUTES September 10, 2015 Page 6 priorities and then she will put in work orders for them to be done. Buckland mentioned using a list of easily-changeable items Elassar had previously sent her as a starting point. Fenrick announced Southwest Transit(ST) has created a new ride system with an available app similar to Uber. A user can request a bus ride by setting up pick-up and drop-off locations and times and then track the driver on a smartphone. The drivers are ST employees, and this service fills a gap where transportation currently isn't offered. She will be testing it to see how well it works. Elassar said she would also test it and asked about the available hours. Filardo said it runs 6:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and 6:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. on Fridays. The fee is $3 adult per ride, $2 children ages 6-12, under 5 free. Mehta said she uses the bus system almost daily and can ask questions on behalf of HRDC if need be. Filardo stated she had noticed little white buses dropping children off at preschool. Earlier there had been an issue with stay-at-home moms being able to transport their children to school. Fenrick replied this summer ST met with residents of a couple properties where there is a high density of children who access early childhood education, but she was unsure of the outcome. Buckland said she could get more information this week and report back. Fenrick reported grants to social service agencies from the City's general fund will come under committee review next month. Fenrick is working with Hennepin Technical College (HTC)to provide GLBT ally training in October. B. BEST BUY GRANT $5.10 remaining. VII. OLD AND NEW BUSINESS -Fenrick A. TRACKS IN THE SNOW UPDATE The"Tracks in the Snow" art exhibit will run November 12 through December 3. Pieces will be on display at the library, art center, community center, and City Center. Seniors at the senior enter have indicated they are interested in a lecture format so in conjunction with the exhibit, Mohamed Duale will give a daytime lecture on Somali politics. Fenrick is also working with Danhauser on an event at the Community Center scheduled for November 19. Valerie Shirley, who works with deaf and hard-of-hearing students in the district, will share her experience about being featured in the exhibit. Henna, art for children, and other activities for kids will be offered as part of a fun family event. If HRDC chooses to move forward with the idea of a panel discussion, it needs to be a separate event at a different location as it doesn't fit well with the other planned events. Fenrick HUMAN RIGHTS AND DIVERSITY COMMISSION MINUTES September 10, 2015 Page 7 asked for feedback about whether or not to add this element and, if so, thoughts on dates. Buckland said with events already planned at other venues, it makes sense to hold an additional event at City Center or the library to draw attendees to different spaces. Elassar said Kifah Mohamed would be good for the community center event. Filardo expressed her hesitation stating she worries a panel discussion might go in the wrong direction. Mason explained when her school's Justice Club addresses controversial topics, a facilitator filters out inappropriate content from pre-written questions from audience members. Buckland suggested sharing stories as a panel opener. Iacovelli recommended removing the panel idea altogether and just having two or three local people share their stories and field questions. Questions could be submitted for approval in advance if necessary. Elassar suggested using the human library format to share stories. She explained the concept and her experience participating in a human library. Buckland said a combination of starting a story or two and then breaking into interactive activities might be a good approach. Discussion of dates followed. Fenrick said she will send out a survey about dates and the feasibility of doing an event. The HRDC may want to consider asking the interfaith group to get involved. B. ADA 251h ANNIVERARY HTC will be the hosting facility for the viewing of the film "Autism in Love" sometime in November or December. Fenrick will send the trailer to the Commissioners. It has already generated excitement among leaders of parent groups. C. CAPITAL ART PROJECT VIII. FUTURE MEETINGS/EVENTS The next HRDC meeting is scheduled for Thursday, October 8, 2015, 7 p.m. at Eden Prairie Center, Room 125. IX. ADJOURNMENT MOTION: Buckland moved, seconded by Narayanan, to adjourn. Motion carried 7-0. Meeting was adjourned at 9:03 p.m.