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Human Rights and Diversity - 11/18/2003 APPROVED MINUTES Eden Prairie Human Rights & Diversity Commission Tuesday, November 18, 2003 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 Caroline Maguire Student Representatives: Kian Missaghi, Molly Moroski, Jackie Beutell Commission Staff: Molly Koivumaki, Staff Liaison Lorene McWaters, Recording Secretary I. Roll Call All members were present with the exception of Balu Iyer. Beutell joined the meeting at 7:25 p.m. II. Approval of Agenda Discussion of a letter to the editor that appeared in the Eden Prairie News and Eden Prairie Sun Current was added to New Business. A Report on the meeting of the Minnesota League of Human Rights Commissions was added to Reports of Staff. Discussion of a commission column for the local newspaper was added under Old Business. Piumbroeck moved to approve the agenda as amended; Strate seconded the motion. Motion passed unanimously. III. Approval of Minutes from October Meeting Beckmann and Maguire made several corrections. Strate moved to approve the minutes as amended; Maguire seconded the motion. Motion passed unanimously with Strate abstaining because he did not attend the last meeting. IV. New Business A. Letter to the Editor in Eden Prairie News and Eden Prairie Sun Current Clynch said she has written a response to the letter to the editor that appeared in the Eden Prairie News and Eden Prairie Sun Current that was against the City's plan to develop a human services site at the Eden Prairie Center. Clynch said she would like to mention her membership on HRDC in the letter, but does not know if this is appropriate. Piumbroeck said he too is concerned that the newspaper gave so much space to this type of article. He said the Justice Group at Pax Christi is planning to respond to the letter. He also pointed out that there were numerous inaccuracies in the letter. Strate said he has seen this person (the author of the letter) commit similar acts of illogic at Council Meetings. He said, however, that the he considers the Eden Prairie News a blessing to the community and he is actually heartened by the fact that both of the local newspapers are willing to print a wide variety of opinions. He does feel Stuart Sudak should have sent the very lengthy article back to the author for editing rather than attempting to edit it himself. Maguire suggested responding to the author with an invitation to the next Gathering. Strate said that anyone who took the time to read through the entire article would realize that the author contradicts herself in several instances. Koivumaki said Sudak sent her an unedited K\RECORDS\Minutes\Human Rights&Diversity\Human Rights and Diversity Commission\2003 Agenda and Minutes\Amended&appcvd 11.18.03 HRDC Minutes.doc tjw version of the article to show how much editing he had done on the letter before publication. Koivumaki said she has only had one e-mail in response to the article, and she was able to alleviate the person's concerns and even received his blessing for the City's plan. Koivumaki also suggested getting out word that mall management is thrilled with the City's proposal to develop a human services site at the Center. She pointed out that mall management is very picky about what they will allow in the mall, and they carefully scrutinized the City's proposal before approving the plan. They would not allow anything that might be detrimental to the rest of the Center. Clynch said she is concerned that immigrants in the community will believe the attitude expressed in the letter represents the feelings of a majority of the community. She said she feels like she needs to respond to the letter, even if just as a private citizen. Clynch read her response aloud to the group. Beckmann said the response is very well written, and she thinks Clynch should submit it. Moran said publication of this type of letter demonstrates what a fascinating country we live in. He is glad to live in a place where individuals have the freedom to express any opinion and not be attacked for it; however, he would not like to see a volley of letters back in forth in the paper about the topic. Strate said it is not necessary to respond to the individual in writing, that it can be done directly. Piumbroeck said his feeling is that while the author is entitled to her owns opinions, she is not entitled to her own facts. He said racism is clearly behind the issue, and the author clearly does not have the facts right. Maguire suggested waiting a couple of weeks to see if there are any other responses in the paper. Student Rep. Molly Moroski agreed that any response should serve to correct the facts and not just present another opinion. Student Rep. Kian Missaghi said it would be helpful to clarify exactly what mall management has agreed to let the City do. B. Discussion of the Commission's Mission Clynch said she suggested this topic for discussion. Moran provided background on the change of the HRDC from a"citizen advisory commission" to a"commission" a couple of years ago. Maguire suggested that everyone refer to the roles and responsibilities listed in the HRDC notebooks. Clynch noted that the charter says the commission is to act in an advisory role to the city. She wondered whether or not the Commission has been doing that or if they are biting off more than they can chew. Koivumaki said the Commission is currently in uncharted territory compared to other Commissions. She said she keeps the City Manager and Council informed on the Commission's activities, and no one has expressed any unhappiness. Maguire said that from her recent experience on the League of Human Rights Commissions, the HRDC is not doing anything other commissions are not doing. Moran said in past years, HRDC meetings tended to be very subdued and the Commission was limited mainly to running the Human Rights Award and Scholarship programs. He said the Commission has done more in the last couple of months than they did in the past six years. He feels the Council supports the initiatives the Commission is proposing. Clynch said she just doesn't want to put Koivumaki in a bad position with staff or the Council. V. Reports of Staff A. South Hennepin Immigrant Services Group (SHISG) Beckmann did not attend the meeting, so she had nothing to report. B. Human Services Review Committee (HSRC) Koivumaki said the Committee met and reviewed quarterly reports of the human service providers funded by the City. K\RECORDS\Minutes\Human Rights&Diversity\Human Rights and Diversity Commission\2003 Agenda and Minutes\Amended&appcad 11.18.03 HRDC Minutes.doc tjw C. Bias Crime Activity Status Koivumaki said there is no activity to report, but provided updates on other HRDC-related issues. Koivumaki passed around an issue of the periodical "The Intelligence Report," which featured "People Who Promote Hatred: the Faces of the Future." She said Economic Development Manager David Lindahl and Chamber President Pat MulQueeny are developing a small business entrepreneurial conference and they want to have representatives from the immigrant community involved in the planning. Koivumaki reported that the Eden Prairie Foundation has denied the HRDC's request for funding for the Jean Harris Memorial Scholarship. Eden Prairie resident Dick Feerick approached Koivumaki about getting on an HRDC agenda to discuss Bishop Flynn's recent"Letter on Racial Bias." Beckmann and Moran said it would be fine for Feerick to come speak to the group in January. Strate said former freedom rider Patricia O'Connell also has expressed interested in coming to talk to the Commission. D. Minnesota League of Human Rights Commissions Maguire said she has attended two meetings on this group. She said the group is in crisis because the state has cut their budget; however, they received a grant from Bremer Banks to conduct hate crime forums. Forums are planned for St. Louis Park and Plymouth. Maguire said the League of Human Rights Commissions meets on Saturdays and Sundays, and she has been asked to enquire whether they might be allowed to meet at the Eden Prairie City Center. Koivumaki said the building is closed on weekends. Strate suggested looking into Camp Edenwood as a possible meeting place. Maguire said the League is applying for a grant to fund a strategic planning retreat for the group. She said it sounds as if Camp Edenwood would provide a perfect setting for such a retreat. Piumbroeck said the League might also consider requesting through the Justice Committee to meet at Pax Christi. VI. Old Business A. HRDC Working Calendar Koivumaki suggested forming a sub-committee to draft a proposed working calendar. Maguire and Piumbroeck volunteered for this assignment. They will set up a meeting time and inform Lorene of the schedule. B. Commission Column Strate said he talked to the editors of both local newspapers and both indicated they are happy to provide space for a column. Each paper will accept the same article;however the Eden Prairie News has a 750-word maximum and the Sun Current has a 650-word maximum. Each paper also reserves the right to final editorial review. Maguire said she has written a draft of the first column,but it is 880 words long and will have to be cut. The column is on International Human Rights Day, which is December 10. It was agreed that columns will be reviewed by Moran and Koivumaki before they are submitted to the newspapers. K\RECORDS\Minutes\Human Rights&Diversity\Human Rights and Diversity Commission\2003 Agenda and Minutes\Amended&appcvd 11.18.03 HRDC Minutes.doc tjw VII. Reports from Commission members Strate said he was invited by Mayor Tyra-Lukens to attend "It's Time to Talk," a Minneapolis YWCA event hosted by former NPR anchor Juan Williams. Each individual was invited to share an experience in their life that changed their attitudes toward people of different races or religions. He said one goal was to bring what they learned back to the community. Strate said he is preparing a press release on the event that will include an invitation to the upcoming Gathering. VIII. Future Meetings/Events The next Gathering Event will be held at 6:30 p.m. on December 9 in the Heritage Rooms at City Center. Moran said the focus will be on immigrants sharing about their culture, especially how it relates to family. The panel will again be moderated by HSSC executive director John Garry. Clynch said one of the Eden Prairie High School government teachers is planning to mention the Gathering event to his students and encourage them to attend. There is no Commission meeting in December. The next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, January 13, at 7:00 p.m. IX. Adiourn K\RECORDS\Minutes\Human Rights&Diversity\Human Rights and Diversity Commission\2003 Agenda and Minutes\Amended&appcad 11.18.03 HRDC Minutes.doc tjw