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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHRCMinutes_2016_10_24Brookings Human Rights Commission Minutes Monday,October 24, 2016 Room 300, Brookings City & County Government Building Attendance:Penny Hauffe,Chair; Lawrence Novotny, Recorder;Laura Renée Chandler;Chandradhar Dwivedi; George Hamer; Judy Karen;Maggie Owens;Shafiqur Rahman;and Shari Thornes,City Clerk Staff.Absent:Steve Bayer, Vice-Chair and Elliot Johnson.Guest: Nadia Ricgway, Brookings High School Human Relations Committee. Chair Hauffe called the meeting to order at 5:30 pm. A motion was made by Hamer, seconded by Owens to approve the agenda.All present voted yes; motion carried. A motion was made by Dwivedi, seconded by Hamer, to approve the minutes of the September 28, 2016 meeting.All present voted yes; motion carried. Schedule next meeting.December 12, 2016 at 9:00 am to judge Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.contest entries. Introductions.Everyone introduced themselves to Nadia Ricgway who is a junior at the high school. Reports/Updates. Community Common Read/Mental Health.Around 240 people attended the Mental Health Awareness panel “Depression is NOT a Choice” on October 3,which was co-sponsored by HRC.Discussion ensued until 8 pm. The event was recorded for replay and posting on the HRC website. Elliot Johnson previously offered to create video clips featuring city leaders as to what mental health means to them.Chandler lined up City Council Member Dan Hansen, high school principal Paul Von Fischer, and Mayor Tim Reed to be recorded. Since Johnson has now moved to Minneapolis, we need to find another videographer to record short YouTube videos. The City Council’s October 18 Study Session focused on mental health and featured five speakers from different organizations.The Council asked good questions,and it was a good learning experience.Approximately 15 people attended, and it was recorded. Martin Luther King Contest:December 7 is the deadline for receipt of entries. The HRC will judge during the December 12 meeting. The HRC is open to suggestions as to how to better promote the contest in order to receive more entries. Some suggestions include: reach out to home schooling, personally contact teachers that we know, and have a meeting with past participating teachers. Fall Diversity Potluck.Attendance was poor –around 55 mostly being the regular community members.It was not listed on the Common Read calendar. In the future, a campus co-sponsor would be beneficial to promote the diversity potluck to the campus community as well as involvement from the high school HRC. Some attendees expected a speaker, which was not scheduled this year. Future speakers could be faculty and students of both the international community and the honors college.Dwivedi and Rahman will submit a name of a tentative speaker at the December meeting. Two tote containers were collected for the food drive and donated to the food pantry. Combined Awards Event.Scheduled on November 10 at the Swiftel Center from 5-7 pm. Police Department liaison report.Neither Lieutenant Powers or Chief Heaton were able to be present. A 3-day police training will be held in Pierre in December,which will include a session on interacting with transgender people.Police Chief Miller has stated that no one from the BPD will be attending.Thornes learned that the transgender portion of the training will be a very short presentation. High School Human Rights Liaison.Ricgway reported the student group has been slow moving this fall due to its members involvement in other activities. The group currently has five members. A logo and banner was created for the group. Rahman left at this point. Review of 2016 goals:Action will be pursued on these goals: The Renters Rights brochure will be reprinted.HRC has funds to hire a person to translate the brochure into Spanish.Owens located a translator. Novotny will make arrangements to have HRC participate in the SDSU renters fair. Thornes reported that the city has funds to implement a language support line for all city departments. The goal is to finalize the commission transition process by the end of this year.This needs to be a priority. The HRC should establish a goal dealing with mental illness. The Brookings Committee for People who have Disabilities is also considering such a goal. MEI Scorecard.The City Manager inquired what the HRC is planning on proposing to increase the score.The sub-committee (Novotny, Hauffe, Chandler, Hamer and Thornes) will meet on November 4 to discuss. The sub- committee will draft a press release to be sent to the Brookings Register. Membership.The terms of Hamer, Bayer, Karen and Rahman expire on December 31.While the three city members have the option of being re-appointed, the openings will need to be advertised.Since Johnson has moved to St. Paul, a new student member will need to be appointed. Announcements. An annual report committee will need to be created. A Vice-Chair needs to be nominated in January. Thornes reported on a conference she attended at the University of Iowa in October.The conference “Next Generations: World Creative Placemaking Summit” focused on integrating the arts into everything that we do. Arts are used to help discuss difficult issues. Thornes will email her report on the conference to the HRC. Novotny reported on an incident involving the SDSU Gender & Sexuality Alliance whereby their Hobo Day window painting was removed by a business.The incident was resolved through discussion involving the GSA, the Hobo Day Committee and the business owner. Calendar.October 25 –Common Read author lecture November 10 –combined awards event, Swiftel Center December 7 –King contest entries due December 12 –King contest judging Adjourn.Motion made by Dwivedi, seconded by Hamer,to adjourn at 6:58 pm. Submitted by Lawrence Novotny, recorder.