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Human Rights and Diversity - 12/17/2015APPROVED MINUTES EDEN PRAIRIE HUMAN RIGHTS AND DIVERSITY COMMISSION THURSDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2015 7:00 P.M., 125 EDEN PRAIRIE CENTER Office of Housing and Human Services COMMISSION MEMBERS: PG Narayanan (Chair), Tonja Bivins, Jenny Buckland, Sana Elassar, Sandra Filardo, Connie Iacovelli, Greg Leeper STAFF: Patricia Fenrick, Staff Heidi Wojahn, Recording Secretary STUDENT REPRESENTATIVES: Tanvi Mehta, Tala Alfoqaha, Sarah Mason, Adrienne Retzlaff, Turner Gunderson I. CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL Chair Narayanan called the meeting to order at 7:06 p.m. Buckland, Filardo, and Student Representative Alfoqaha were absent. Bivins arrived at 7:11 p.m. II. APPROVAL OF AGENDA MOTION: Iacovelli moved, seconded by Elassar, to approve the agenda. Motion carried 4-0. III. APPROVAL OF MINUTES MOTION: Leeper moved, seconded by Iacovelli, to approve the November 8, 2015 minutes. Motion carried 4-0. IV. REPORTS OF STAFF - Fenrick A. CULTIVATING CONDITIONS FOR CHANGE FORUM Fenrick emailed information to the commissioners on a forum on equity issues relating to race and economics. A group discount is available. HRDC members interested in attending should let Fenrick know. Leeper expressed interest. Bivins arrived at 7:11 p.m. B. BEST BUY GRANT $5.10 remaining. V. OLD AND NEW BUSINESS HUMAN RIGHTS AND DIVERSITY COMMISSION MINUTES December 17, 2015 Page 2 A. TRAINING TOPICS LIST Fenrick circulated a list of possible training topics and asked commissioners to place a check mark by ones of interest to them or add additional ideas they had. B. ADVISORY DOCUMENT, WORK PLAN, AND PRESENTATION TO COUNCIL Fenrick distributed folders with contents in preparation for creating an advisory report to Council. She explained the framework for the documents contained within the folders. The process involved connects with the Commission’s training topics and will help guide the Commission as to which topics it needs to learn more about and how to serve Council in an advisory capacity on issues impacting Eden Prairie’s residents. More discussion will take place in January. Narayanan will report on the HRDC’s progress in 2015 and the 2016 work plan at the Council workshop on January 19. Leeper indicated he would attend as well. C. EDEN PRAIRIE LIBRARY IMMIGRANT DISPLAY Fenrick reported on a traveling exhibit of life-sized posters on display throughout the library. The exhibit, “Green Card Voices” tells stories of immigrants and promotes an upcoming event, “The Power of Immigrant Stories” scheduled for January 16. Fenrick is checking to see if the paper will do story connecting this to “Tracks in the Snow”. D. HRDC MONTHLY MENTION/HIGHLIGHT-OF-THE-MONTH IDEA Fenrick said she has been considering an idea for a monthly showcase highlighting happenings in the community HRDC supports. Submissions could be done online and voted on monthly at the Commission’s meetings. Doing so invites interaction from the community and raises importance and awareness of the Human Rights Awards and other events. Fenrick solicited feedback. Leeper said he liked the idea of calling it a “spotlight” and asked if it could be called an award. Iacovelli questioned if doing so would conflict with the existing Human Rights Awards. Fenrick said she wants to highlight 12 “winners” as part of the annual awards process. Narayanan was skeptical it would generate enough interest and said the frequency needs consideration. Fenrick said there may be some months without a feature, but it heightens awareness by commissioners of goings-on in the community. Elassar suggested the Commission go ahead and roll it out. Discussion of logistics for advertising and implementation followed. Mason said a large social media presence was essential. The student commissioners all agreed they could help with this aspect. The Commission was unanimously in favor of supporting the HUMAN RIGHTS AND DIVERSITY COMMISSION MINUTES December 17, 2015 Page 3 idea. Fenrick invited the commissioners to forward their ideas to her and said HRDC would revisit the topic in January. E. TRACKS IN THE SNOW REPORT Fenrick reported on the exhibit calling it “beautiful”. Fenrick asked commissioners to comment on Valerie Shirley’s presentation at the Community Center. Iacovelli said it was insightful while Mehta noted the unique perspective. Bivins brought up the ongoing issue of poor attendance at HRDC sponsored events saying she found it troubling. Fenrick said this particular event was well promoted, but the turnout was disappointing. Mason again brought up the critical role social media plays in drawing interest and suggested setting things like this up as events on Facebook. Fenrick said the Commission had talked about the concept of shifting away from stand-alone events and moving more into training on particular topics. Narayanan said if events are not drawing people in, perhaps we need to go to where the people are: schools, churches, etc. Bivins asked if the library could promote HRDC events. Fenrick said for that to happen, it would have to be an event done in collaboration with the library and be planned a year in advance. Elassar said she considered the attendance at certain events a success considering the focus. People find a lot of topics related to human rights heavy and depressing. Finding a way to make them more enticing could help. Iacovelli said she just thought these types of events are not on the radars of Eden Prairie residents. Fenrick said she was met with resistance when it came to having the exhibit at the senior center right after the recent Paris attacks. Iacovelli questioned whether, without a budget, the role of HRDC even allows for having regular events. If the Commission is to serve more of an advisory role, it makes more sense to gather information on issues in the community and bring them forward to Council. Elassar said conversations and events does appear to fall under the Commission’s governing rules. The key is getting people to share issues they are aware of in the community. Bivins said the same people keep showing up and mentioned the need to reach others. People may have seen the exhibit unintentionally and it opened their minds. If so, that is a success. Fenrick said personal invitations work best. Mehta said high school students seem to be interested but it is puzzling why they don’t follow through and show up. Bivins said technology tends to distract people from going out. Mason stated that shouldn’t be the barrier, but it is needed for promotion. Elassar inquired about rescheduling the Islamic Resource Group (IRG) lecture recently cancelled due to weather. Narayanan said it makes sense to connect it with another event. Fenrick said Hennepin Technical College was going to have the exhibit return but their tendency to schedule events after class rather than in evenings might not be the most conducive for generating a good turnout. HUMAN RIGHTS AND DIVERSITY COMMISSION MINUTES December 17, 2015 Page 4 Narayanan stated it doesn’t have to be face-to-face. A video could be promoted online. Elassar said she didn’t think the after school timing mattered, but it does make sense to pair it with the exhibit. Fenrick said a DVD of stories of all 25 people featured in the exhibit exists with about 20 minutes slated per person which is too long. The photos are online but the stories are not. More discussion to follow in January. F. ANTI-MUSLIM EMAIL ISSUE Fenrick reported she had alerted the City Manager HRDC would be discussing a letter stating concerns over two Somali candidates running for school board. Gunderson said he received a copy of the letter from the president of the Muslim Student Association (MSA) at school and the letter was apparently sent to parents of different-aged Eden Prairie students prior to the elections. The candidates did not win the seats for which they were running. Mehta added students were upset with the minimalist response from the principal. Fenrick asked how the HRDC could respond in support. Elassar suggested promoting the rescheduled IRG event to the school board and principal. Leeper recommended setting a letter to MSA acknowledging the Commission’s awareness of the act and showing solidarity. That would help them see HRDC as a resource. Elassar also suggested creating a template of a response for everyone to provide input. Mehta agreed formulating a response was a good idea. It might satisfy some students and possibly get publicized. Narayanan recommended contacting Muslim community leaders while Iacovelli suggested sending a letter to the two candidates. Fenrick noted this was an individual acting on bias and prejudice. Although the behavior is not tolerable according to the Eden Prairie Manifesto, no crime was committed, there is no investigation, and the candidates have not approached the Commission. HRDC shouldn’t overstep by contacting people who haven’t been affected by it. Council was made aware of it via the City Manager. Narayanan suggested contacting leaders in the area to make a statement the Commission does not endorse this type of behavior. Fenrick said HRDC can raise visibility there is a caring group by extending an invitation to the Imam of the mosque in Eden Prairie to address the Commission. Bivins said the author is a person with a belief, concern, or fear who took time to write a letter and is trying to be enlightened. She asked how the Commission tries to understand the person who wrote the letter and address and dismantle their fear before it grows into something worse. Fenrick said doing just that was attempted with Tracks in the Snow. Unfortunately the people with the fears are not the ones showing up to these types of events. Leeper said change is gradual and starts with young people. Bivins agreed youth have the power and tools to promote change. Elassar said the student representatives need a project of their own to manage. The students said they felt they could do something at school. Fenrick confirmed she will start a template of a letter addressed to MSA and reach out to the Imam at the Eden Prairie mosque. HUMAN RIGHTS AND DIVERSITY COMMISSION MINUTES December 17, 2015 Page 5 G. 5K UPDATE Fenrick distributed Buckland’s notes on the 5K to be held June 11, 2016. HRDC has a small role this year and will assist with registration. H. INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL UPDATE – Narayanan/Leeper Fenrick distributed an agenda for People Fest. Narayanan asked what the City’s feedback was in terms of the proposed date. Fenrick said she will confirm tomorrow. Narayanan explained there are two proposed tag lines: one short one, and another a little longer. Commissioner feedback was positive. Narayanan solicited feedback on the logo. Iacovelli said there was a bit too much pink in it and the angular font didn’t go well with the organic style of the graphic. Otherwise she liked it. Leeper said discussion should wait until the steering committee meets. In an effort to try to expand the number of groups represented, Elassar and Iacovelli respectively requested a seeing-eye dog and wheelchair be added. Leeper asked the students for honest feedback on the name People Fest. All agreed they were in favor of it. Narayanan said the steering committee will ideally represent all aspects of the community. Leeper said it will consist of 8-10 people who will be tasked with different components and of engaging others in their community. The student commissioners all said they were willing to help. Narayanan said they already have a representative from the Eden Prairie Community Foundation on board. Brainstorming on possible contacts and police presence ensued. Elassar said the Hennepin County composting program will take care of pick-up and providing volunteers at each recycling station. A $100 deposit is required and she just needs to know how many people are expected. Narayanan said the steering committee, to be determined, will consist of those people with the most influence in terms of bringing in attendees, raising money, and providing volunteers. Right now, Commissioners just need to put contact information into the Google Doc set up for this purpose. VI. FUTURE MEETINGS/EVENTS The next HRDC meeting is scheduled for Thursday, January 14, 2015, 7 p.m. at Eden Prairie Center, Room 125. VII. ADJOURNMENT MOTION: Iacovelli moved, seconded by Elassar, to adjourn. Motion carried 5-0. Chair Narayanan adjourned the meeting at 9:04 p.m.