Human Rights and Diversity - 02/09/2004 APPROVED MINUTES
EDEN PRAIRIE HUMAN RIGHTS & DIVERSITY COMMISSION
Tuesday, February 10, 2004 7:00 PM—Prairie Room, City Center
8080 Mitchell Road, Eden Prairie MN 55344-4485
Commission Members: Harry Moran (Chair), Jeff Strate (Vice Chair), Holly Clynch, Balu
Iyer, Gerry Beckmann, Larry Piumbroeck, and Cari Maguire
Student Representatives: Kian Missaghi, Molly Moroski, Jackie Beutell
Commission Staff: Molly Koivumaki, Staff Liaison
Tanya Whitsitt, Recording Secretary
I. Roll Call
The meeting was called to order at 7:10 pm. Roll call was read by Whitsitt. All members were
in attendance except Clynch. Student representatives were all present.
II. Approval of Agenda
Beckmann asked to add discussion to VI B. on the Human Rights Awards. Piumbroeck asked to
add new item VI E. an Update to Newspaper Column.
Strate moved, seconded by Beckmann to approve the agenda as amended.
MOTION CARRIED: 6-0
III. Approval of Minutes from January Meeting
Beckmann stated she had a few changes to the minutes: On page 3, section VL B,paragraph 4,
add "previous discussion had been...[She said she felt badly] and was new to the process and
some previous members who had worked on the process didn't get to vote." Paragraph 6 change
"more clear" to "clearer", and "essay" should read "reference letter". Also add "scholarship" to
the end of the sentence. On page 4, section V. A, paragraph 1, add "Krocek" and change
"seniors" to "ESL students".
Strate moved, seconded by Maguire to approve the minutes as amended.
MOTION CARRIED: 6-0
IV. New Business
None.
V. Reports of Staff
A. Human Services Review Committee (HSRC)
Koivumaki said the committee met on Monday and reviewed funding proposals. She said
they have to decide where they are going to put CDGB funds. She explained they are not
City funds and that five groups have requested funding (the same five as in the past).
B. Bias Crime Activity Status
Nothing new to report to BCN or the Police.
C. Report on Boards and Commissions recruitment process from OCM
Whitsitt reported the recruitment period for Board and Commissions had closed on
February 6"'. She said they had received 5 new applications for this commission. The
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process involves the staff liaisons and the Council reviewing the applications and then
interviews will be held on Tuesday, February 24. Koivumaki said the Candidate Open
House was held on January 27t' and most of the Council and staff liaisons were there to try
to attract citizens and answer questions. She said unfortunately the Open House at the Mall
was not as well attended as we hoped.
VI. Old Business
A. Immigrant Festival Discussion
Koivumaki said the Immigrant Festival that Sandy Werts discussed here last month is in the
planning stages. She and some commission members met recently to look at how to go
forward with the festival. The group has discussed having it at Staring Park on July 31sr
She stated it is a Parks and Recreation event that the Human Services staff and this
commission support. She hopes for food, music, clothing, and an overall upbeat celebration.
Piumbroeck asked if they were still looking for people to join Werts, and Koivumaki replied
"yes, absolutely." Moran said at the last meeting several names were given to Werts and
they are using a database to find interested people to help with the festival. Werts wants
sub-groups to help with planning and oversee the event. The next meeting is scheduled for
February 18ffi at 4:00 pm.
B. Youth Scholarship Award application and voting process and Human Rights Awards
Piumbroeck said he read the revised YSA application and said it is much clearer, especially
the essay section. Beckmann agreed it was well done. Piumbroeck said the issue last year
was the point system and that they got through it,but that it was quite a bit of effort. He
asked if there was any way to make it easier. Maguire asked who made up the point system
currently used and said last time they just chose the top ones and voted. Moran said the
process is subjective because "different people see different things". He explained that
nothing is "in stone",but there should be guidelines that everyone agrees on. Beckmann
said we should look at it from the perspective of the person applying; we ought to have a
process that we could explain to the applicants. Piumbroeck said Section A and B on the
application are totally subjective and C and D "anybody can do". Beckmann suggested
having the points all totaled up before the meeting. This would quicken the process and help
the commission have an idea of the winners. Piumbroeck proposed using the points and
bringing the top four choices to the next meeting; Maguire agreed. Piumbroeck said a few
applications, like last year, will definitely stand out. He also noted that any commissioners
should be able to advocate for the applications they like. Moran said we should go ahead
with the top 3 or 4 and start with a clean discussion to decide on the top two recipients.
Addition to agenda: Beckmann said she took the Human Rights Award information off of
the web and said she wanted to nominate someone. She asked if the human rights efforts
looked at for the award are supposed to be from 2003 or 2004. Koivumaki said the
nominees' work doesn't have to be just from 2003; the work can be ongoing events or
efforts.
C. Report from funding subcommittee for YSA
Piumbroeck said Maguire found some money for the scholarship fund. She said a group in
her neighborhood contributed $400, and she donated as well. Strate said the Friends of
Birch Island Woods group also raised money. Piumbroeck said we need to determine where
the money can come from and put something together to raise more dollars. Maguire
suggested contacting the MN Vikings. Strate said we need something to carry us a couple of
years. Beckmann agreed and stated we need to keep it going.
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D. 2004 HRDC Workplan
Nothing discussed.
E. Update on Newspaper Column
Piumbroeck said he did intend to write an article for the Eden Prairie News,but did not get
one submitted to the paper. Maguire instead wrote the article to be published in March.
Piumbroeck said he will write the April article and have Moran review it. Beckmann
thanked Piumbroeck for bringing up the topic. Maguire said she did not mind writing them
but said it is nice to have others contribute from time to time.
VII. Reports from Commission members
A. South Hennepin Immigrant Services Group (SHISG)
Beckmann said she attended the meeting on February 2nd and saw a presentation by Sara
Hastings from the U of M which was very good. The topic of the presentation was
"Identifying Barriers to Graduation for Latinos in the South Hennepin Region". She said
they gave interesting statistics and the group had a good discussion on undocumented
children. Beckmann read some of the Language Rights Issues. She said that some schools
post rights for people to see,but noted that Eden Prairie has not done this yet. The group
suggested that the Mayor and Chief of Police attend a SHISG meeting to talk about
undocumented people and explain their rights and what could and could not happen to them.
Beckmann said she saw a good article in the Star Tribune and discussed it with Koivumaki.
It is about Somalis who want to form a leadership council in Minnesota and also about the
problems they have with conflicting clans within their community. The article was
discussed at the SHISG meeting. Beckmann said Khadra Duale from HOPE was the only
Somali representative at the SHISG meeting to talk about it(presumably due to the
weather). Duale was asked if clans are a problem here. She said they are here and at first
she did not associate with people from other clans,but has since looked at them all as
neighbors. The Somali community needs unified leadership. Koivumaki said that clan
issues here are something to think about and could be preventing some people from
accessing services. Beckmann said it is necessary for us to be proactive and acknowledge
they exist.
The next meeting will be held on March 1st at the library and all are welcome.
B. Any Commission Member may report
Missaghi mentioned the high school Diversity Fair to be held on February 191h during
school. She stated that Tom Halloren said it was fine for the Human Rights and Diversity
Commission to have a booth there. Beutell said the school recently had an assembly for an
hour where the high school celebrated talents and diversity. She said there was music and a
very entertaining performance by the Step Team. Moroski said in the past the assemblies
were mostly focused on sports,but this was a celebration students heard about and many
went; it was packed and very popular.
VIII. Future Meetings/Events
The next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, March 9`h at 7:00 p.m.
IX. Adiourn
Beckmann moved, and Iyer seconded to adjourn the meeting. All ayes.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:30 p.m.
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