Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuman Rights and Diversity - 03/08/2018 APPROVED MINUTES EDEN PRAIRIE HUMAN RIGHTS & DIVERSITY COMMISSION THURSDAY, MARCH 8, 2018 7:00 P.M., EDEN PRAIRIE CENTER Office of Housing and Community Services COMMISSION MEMBERS: Sana Elassar(Chair), Greg Leeper, (Vice Chair), Joan Howe-Pullis, Harvey Humes, Katherine Lucht, Ann Martinka, Shahram Missaghi, Leslie Philmon, Rehmatbai Sumra STUDENT MEMBERS: Ashwin Senthilkumar, Carolyn Mason, Kholood Mo'allim, Mason Stoltz, Meghana Chimata, Tharun Rao COMMISSION STAFF: Megan Yerks, Staff Liaison Julie Krull, Recording Secretary I. CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL Vice Chair Leeper called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Commission Member Philmon arrived during the Staff Report. Commission Members Elassar, Missaghi and Student Member Stoltz were absent. II. INTRODUCTION OF GUESTS Julie Klima, Eden Prairie City Planner, will be the guest speaker tonight. IIII. APPROVAL OF AGENDA MOTION: Martinka moved, seconded by Howe-Pullis, to approve the agenda. Motion carried 6-0. IV. APPROVAL OF THE FEBRUARY 8, 2018 MINUTES MOTION: Howe-Pullis moved, seconded by Lucht, to approve the February 2018 minutes. Motion carried 6-0. V. STAFF REPORT—Megan Yerks Yerks gave the following update on Collaborative Events in Progress: HUMAN RIGHTS & DIVERSITY MINUTES March 8, 2018 Page 2 A. There is a possible collaboration with Heritage Preservation Commission for Native American Heritage Month in November. Lori is still communicating with those in charge of the artifacts and will get back to the Commission when she learns more. B. The International Festival is still in the progress of planning as guidance is needed for ways to interface. This guidance will be coming from Eden Prairie Park& Recreation Department. C. NAMI classes are in progress. They are still working to determine the exact cost of each class; NAMI is working on getting a list of the honorariums sent over so it can be budgeted appropriately. Gray Matters cost less than anticipated and that may be the case with the others, so more classes may be offered than planned. Yerks said her goal is to have all of 2018's workshops tentatively scheduled by May, including fall workshops. Other possible partners to be considered are faith communities, low income rental properties (IE through Community Connections), or another presentation at the EPHS with HEART for Mental Health Awareness Month. 1. Creating Caring Communities: PROP partnership for EP volunteers. This is still tentatively planned for the 1st week of June. It will be an evening class marketed for direct service volunteers. The location is TBD, tentatively at the City Center or Community Center. 2. Gray Matters Course: Senior Center. This is scheduled for October 18t" at 5:30 at the Senior Center. They will be partnering with Meals on Wheels for dessert taste testing and outreach. It is open to seniors, caregivers, professionals, and etc. They are looking for additional food sponsors D. Community Connections at Briarhill—meeting next week with Briarhill Management, PROP and Mohamed to discuss next Community Connections program and additional programming activities. The hope is to gather a group of past participants and residents to get feedback about how they can make the program more welcoming and a better fit for residents. E. The Acting Black Presentation at HTC had approximately 140 people in attendance, mostly students. The performance and talk back sessions were successful as there was an abundance of feedback, comments and discussion. F. HRDC Feedback—Upcoming Presenters. 1. April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month. We will work to have Cornerstone present at the next meeting. HUMAN RIGHTS & DIVERSITY MINUTES March 8, 2018 Page 3 2. Members —Yerks asked the members to come next month with a list of local non-profits that you are interested in hearing about so presenters can start being scheduled. VII. OLD BUSINESS VIII. NEW BUSINESS A. ASPIRE UPDATE WITH JULIE KLIMA Julie Klima said she is here tonight to discuss Aspire. This is the City's Comprehensive Plan and is done every 10 years. The required plan elements are transportation,land use, housing,parks and community facilities, water resources, economic competiveness and implementation. Vice Chair Leeper asked what happens with the past updates. Klima said with this update they are taking the time to look in detail at all the chapters that are listed. They are currently looking at the 2030 plan but also looking beyond that. She pointed out this is a high level plan. She talked about the HRDC manifesto and said the role of the Commission is to support Human Rights and Diversity and that is how the Commission fits into the plan. Klima also stated the plan call-outs are social equity and diversity, community health, and sustainable resilience. These call-outs will be integrated throughout the plan. Klima said community engagement is very huge in the Comprehensive Plan. She pointed out 60 plus events have been conducted, such as pop-ups at Arts in the Park, Rib Fest, Hometown Celebration, focus groups and many more events. One of the focus groups is the social equity and diversity group. What is being taken out of the focus groups were inclusiveness, celebrating diversity, and equitable access to service. Klima said the project timeline consists of submitting the draft to the Metropolitan Council by December 31, 2018. Chimata asked how many pages the Comprehensive Plan is. Klima said it is a very large document with approximately 200 pages consisting of maps and text. Howe-Pullis commented about the implementation side and asked if that was in the Comprehensive Plan or just interpretation. Klima said it is a combination of goals and strategies. Howe-Pullis said she was looking for an inclusionary policy. Klima said this is a blue print and that it would be a policy document that would ultimately drive city policy. Mo'allim asked about affordable housing and how that is addressed. Klima said that would be in the Land Use Chapter for appropriate places for housing and there would also be a range of housing. She said affordability would be addressed in the Housing Chapter. Martinka commented Eden Prairie has changed demographics since the last plan was done and asked if there were a lot of changes. She also asked when the Metropolitan Council will approve this plan. Klima said they still use the 2030 plan as a tool and do not completely get rid of HUMAN RIGHTS & DIVERSITY MINUTES March 8, 2018 Page 4 it. Klima said in regards to changes, the biggest is the LRT, as this will affect many assets of the City. Sumra asked what other resources the City utilized for the Comp Plan. Klima said surveys, focus groups and they hired a consultant out of Chicago. Vice Chair Leeper asked how the Commission can help with this plan. Klima said she appreciates all the input that was provided and suggested coming to a Planning Commission meeting and also giving feedback once the draft is completed. Yerks suggested the group create a document to submit for Aspire for the social equity piece. Senthilkumar and Rao left the meeting. B. POLICE COMMUNITY RELATIONS SUBCOMMITTEE UPDATE: COFFEE WITH A COP—JOAN/MEGHANA Chimata said this will take place on April 14th from 9:30-11:00 am in the Cambria room at the Community Center. Vice Chair Leeper said it would be nice if everyone could join in to help facilitate discussion. Howe-Pullis said the City will develop a flyer and through the City Facebook page is how they would get started to get this out to everyone. Vice Chair Leeper said it was talked about having people RSVP so they are not overloaded with people and have to turn people away. Martinka said they are looking for the HRDC to drive conversations and not the police as they want to take that away from authoritative figures. Officers will not be in full uniform. Lucht suggested the Commission members get together beforehand so they know what they are going to be discussing. Vice Chair Leeper suggested making time for this at the next meeting. Yerks said they are still looking into child care for this event. She said in regards to transportation, she would have to check with the Senior Center as they have the buses. Howe-Pullis said Southwest Transit may be an option if there is a need because they offered their services at a previous event at Pax Christi C. NAMI/HEART MENTAL HEALTH TRAINING UPDATE - MEGHANA Chimata said they are hoping for this to take place at the end of May,preferably the 23rd, at 6:00 pm at the Eden Prairie High School. The seminar will be an hour long and they would like to have a Q&A afterwards. They would also like to have food at this event. She said she will be preparing a flyer and reaching out to students at school through their connections class. D. 2017 HUMAN RIGHTS AWARD NOMINATIONS Vice Chair Leeper said there are four categories; they are Business, Non-Profit, Youth, and Individual. BUSINESS —the following nomination is: 1. Southwest Prime. Vice Chair Leeper said their priority is accessibility. Martinka said they are used frequently by the disabled. HUMAN RIGHTS & DIVERSITY MINUTES March 8, 2018 Page 5 • The vote was unanimous for Southwest Prime. NON-PROFIT - the following nominations are: 1. Interfaith Circle. Howe-Pullis said she is a founding member of this group. This group was held at Pax Christi and they did the Thanksgiving dinner. They have recently changed this group to be more than just this event and more of a face in the community doing such things as interfaith and educational events. 2. CERT—Community Emergency ponse Team. Yerks said although this is part of the City it is staffed by volunteers. These volunteers had to partake in 5-6 sessions of training. CERT helps with traffic control and assisting other communities with events. She pointed out this is a diverse group of people involved in this group. • The vote was unanimous for Interfaith Circle. Howe-Pullis abstained. YOUTH—the following nomination is: 1. Hayden Bunn. Howe-Pullis said Hayden worked on a local campaign. His communication skills are great and he is also on the Conservation Committee. He coaches soccer and goes to Eagle Ridge and works with the school board. Howe-Pullis said he is very helpful when asked to do anything and shows up at a lot of community events. • The vote was unanimous for Hayden Bunn. INDIVIDUAL—the following nominations are: 1. Christine Erickson. She works with Grace Church and also organizes the Stop the Trafficking 5k; bringing these two events together. She also did service work for the Super Bowl. 2. Jenny Buckland. She is a former HRDC member who currently works at PROP and focuses on employment there. She also co-facilitates a lot of events and does Eden Prairie READS and is involved in Eden Prairie Housing. 3. Crystal Winston. She works at PROP and was involved with the Racial Bias event. She is a very dedicated social worker at PROP and is recognized as a leader by many clients. She is very passionate with her work and clients. HUMAN RIGHTS & DIVERSITY MINUTES March 8, 2018 Page 6 4. PG Nara,, ate. —He is a former Chair and Vice Chair of HRDC. He is also involved in the Eden Prairie Community Foundation and also promotes youth development. • The vote was 9 for Crystal and 2 for Christine. Crystal Winston was the winner. Vice Chair Leeper suggested having all nominees be given some sort of recognition. Yerks said the awards will be given in May at the City Council Meeting. IX. UPCOMING MEETING A. April 12, 2018 X. ADJOURNMENT MOTION: Lucht moved, seconded by Philmon, to adjourn the Human Rights & Diversity Commission meeting. Motion carried 7-0. The meeting was adjourned at 9:03 pm.