Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutBHRCMinutes_2014_04_23Brookings Human Rights Committee Minutes Wednesday, April 23, 2014 at 5:00 p.m. Suite 230, Room 241- Brookings City & County Government Center Attendance: George Hamer, Penny Hauffe, Chandradhar Dwivedi, Shafiqur Rahman, Hanna Larsen, Patty Bacon, Judy Karen, Lawrence Novotny and Sam Jennings. Absent: Steve Bayer. Also present: SDSU Liaison substitute Nicki Viso and City Staff Shari Thornes. Hamer called the meeting to order at 5:06 pm. A motion was made by Dwivedi, seconded by Karen, to approve. Motion carried. A motion was made by Dwivedi, seconded by Rahman, to approve the February 13, 2014 minutes. Motion carried. Schedule next meeting date. May 21, 2014 at 12:00 pm. Human Rights Campaign Municipal Equality Index Scorecard. • Prescription Report – Accepted by the Human Rights Committee as submitted. • Suggested Action Steps o Section I: Non-Discrimination Laws. It will be necessary to either amend or introduce a new ordinance. The Human Rights Committee needs further direction from the City Attorney. Thornes will provide the City Attorney with the recommendations and invite him to the next meeting. o Section II: Municipal Domestic Partner Registries. Further inquiry into other city practices needs to be made. Novotny will contact our liaison at the Human Rights Campaign. A sample packet will be prepared to present to the City Attorney. o Section III: Transgender – Inclusive Health Care Benefits. The Human Rights Committee needs to request the City Council amend the existing ordinance. Hamer, Novotny, Hauffe and Thornes will present the amended ordinance along with legal dependent benefits to Human Resources for review. The City Contractor Non-Discrimination Ordinance or Policy may need to be Council policy. Thornes will meet with Mayor Reed to discuss. VenuWorks, the company that manages the Swiftel Center, may already have this in their policy and the language could be adapted. The Human Rights Committee agreed to move Contractor issues to phase 2 in order to move the project along and not derail the objectives. o Section IV: LGBT Liaison in the Mayor’s Office. The Mayor can appoint the Human Rights Committee to serve in this capacity. The Mayor will be invited to the next meeting to discuss this designation. Novotny and Hamer will research examples from other cities. o Bonus: Diversity Training including LGBT issues. This issue will be taken to city’s Human Resources Department along with the other issues. o Bonus: Services to Vulnerable Populations (2 points for each category). The Municipal Equality Index awards two points to a city if they provide or support services to any of the following vulnerable populations: LGBT youth, LGBT homeless, LGBT elderly and people living with HIV or AIDS. Brookings could see an increase of 8 points if they extend services to these populations. o Section V: LGBT Police Liaison or Task Force. Hauffe will research approachable officers. Hate Crimes statistics to the FBI: the Human Rights Committee needs to communicate with the Mayor about past experiences and request a change in reporting. The Human Rights Committee will report on the meeting with the city Human Resources Department at the May meeting and ask the Mayor to attend the June meeting. Thornes handed out bound copies of the nationwide Municipal Equality Index and asked where they should distributed. The Human Rights Committee decided the City Council, Mayor, City Manager, SDSU President, Provost, all city department heads should receive copies along with a cover letter from the Committee. Jennings will draft the letter which will advise this is Brookings’ first score and the Committee is working to improve it. 2014 Community-Campus Common Read. Copies of the Good Food Revolution were distributed to the Committee. Larsen will attend the May campus meeting. The Human Rights Committee would like to partner with the Brookings Sustainability Council on the public events. The Committee is assigned to read the book before the May meeting. The Committee will begin discussions about the community events they would like to host at the May meeting. 2015 Dr. Martin Luther King Day poster location. Hamer to check with the Children’s Museum. Diversity Potlucks. a. Wrap-up report on April 13th Spring Potluck: Approximately 80 people attended. All that was left from the food was chicken. In Novotny’s absence, Jennings delivered the leftover chicken to the Harvest Table. The Spring Potluck was well attended and received. Gary Aguiar gave a short presentation and had great audience interaction. Rahman sent a thank you to Aguiar on the Committee’s behalf. b. Fall Potluck: 1) October 19, 2014 2) Sponsor canned food drive – collection tubs will be required. Promote drive in newspapers in addition to the general poster. 3) The Human Rights Committee will reach out to the Hispanic populations through Guadalajara’s Restaurant, dairy production facilities and students from South and Central America. 4) Sustainability aspect – It was suggested to not use disposable materials for the Potluck. Jennings will reach out to Aramark to see if they would donate dishes and cleaning services. Several committee members suggested an acquisition of silverware/plates/glasses and reuse at each potluck. 5) Presentation – Dwivedi and Rahman will reach out to African representatives for possible presentations. Welcoming campaign for new residents in Brookings. The Human Rights Committee will launch a campaign directed at landlords and city employees. The Committee would like to further discuss this issue with the Mayor, city inspectors, landlords and renters. It will likely be a slow process in the beginning. The Committee could produce a flyer dispelling the myths. Hamer will reach out to the Director of International Student Affairs. Jennings commented that it would be wise to find business reasoning to get landlords involved. This issue will be on the agenda for the next planning meeting to work out the specifics of the campaign and decide on a name: Inclusiveness? Diversity? Renter’s Rights Brochure. The initial brochure was created in 1990. A subcommittee will work on revisions before the July meeting. Bacon, Dwivedi, Larsen and Thornes will prepare the draft revisions. Engage Brookings. Questions can be in a variety of formats, such as: • Yes/No, with or without comments • Survey/Poll, with or without comments • Narrative responses • Submission of pictures, videos for ideas • A “challenge” with an actual award/prize involved – members of the committee can also be designated as “active listeners” of a question and be able to post responses. Link to the site: http://www.engagebrookings.org/. The Committee will brainstorm and submit questions at the next meeting. Volunteer Coffee with Mayor. May 8 at 5pm, May 16 at 8 am – Hamer & Hauffe will be attending. Announcements/Correspondence/Calendar • B-cycle system demo April 30. • GreenFest posters were handed out for members to distribute. Please pass the word. There are a few openings left in the historic preservation workshops. • Mayor mentioned Micro Aggression hashtag campaign. It’s worth seeing. • Jennings brought up that when we invite individuals to meetings, please brief them in advance of the meeting. Announcements/Correspondence/Calendar: • April 13th – Spring Diversity Potluck – Gary Aguilar is the speaker • Wednesday, April 23 @ 5 p.m. – next meeting – work meeting • May 8th @ 5 pm - Volunteer Coffee with Mayor • May 16th @ 8 am – Volunteer Coffee with Mayor Adjourn. A motion was made by Rahman, seconded by Hauffe, to adjourn. All present voted yes; motion carried. Meeting adjourned 7:08 p.m. Submitted by Patty Bacon