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Brookings Human Rights Commission Minutes
Friday, January 29, 2021
Community Room 300, Brookings City/County Government Building and Go To Meeting App
Attendance: Matt Rhodes (county representative & chair – in person); Jason Meusburger (vice-chair – online);
Lawrence Novotny, (recorder - online); Dan Berg (online); Marilyn Hildreth (online); Meagan Irvine-Miller
(online); Zahra Najl (online); Nieema Thasing (online); Erinn Thomas (online); Roger DeGroot (school liaison -
online); Keith Theroux (police liaison – in person); Casey Bell (city human resources technician & staff liaison –
in person)
Absent: Shedrick Flournoy (student representative); Marci Gebers (police liaison); Kas Williams (SDSU liaison);
Guest: Andrew Sloss, the new executive director of Brookings Economic Development Corporation (online)
Chair Rhodes called the meeting to order at 5:01 pm.
Meusburger moved, Berg seconded, to adopt the agenda as amended by the addition of items to take action on
legislative items and funding bystander training Motion passed.
Thasing moved, Meusburger seconded, to approve the minutes of the December 15 meeting. Motion passed.
Liaison Expectations:
Novotny and Hildreth submitted the revised draft document outlining the role of liaisons to BHRC and how the
liaisons will be selected. An application form was also submitted. Thasing had a question regarding if the
liaison is not attending meetings, how will the notification take place. Novotny replied that while it is not spelled
out, the organization will be notified that their designated liaison has been absent and it will be the organization’s
responsibility to take appropriate action. Thasing moved, Irwin-Miller seconded, to adopt the liaison role and
application documents. Motion passed.
MLK / Black History Month contest
The sub-committee changed the name of the contest to “Martin Luther King, Jr. and Black History Month Essay
Contest”. Students can write an essay on either MLK or another Black person of significance. The press release
was issued today. Yesterday schools were informed of the contest via e-mail. The deadline for essay
submissions is February 26. The awards will be presented at the March 9 City Council meeting.
.
Bystander Intervention Training
Hildreth distributed a proposal from the Diversity Council (located in Rochester and St. Paul MN) to conduct a
bystander/upstander training. The training will focus on how someone can stand up when they witness another
person being harassed. The training will be a 2-hour interactive online session and is limited to 40 participants.
Diversity Council will handle the registrations which tentatively would be free as of now. Irvin -Miller brought
up the issue of what guarantee that the 40 people who register will actually attend the training. Should we have
an admission charge to guarantee participation? Should there be a list of stand-by interested people? These
issues need to be resolved. We need to do a media push to encourage participation. Saturday, April 10, was
proposed as the tentative date. Irvin-Miller moved, Berg seconded, to contract with the Diversity Council in the
amount of $600 to conduct bystander/upstander training. Motion passed.
Legislative Issues:
Novotny stated that due to the fast pace of the Legislature, it would be difficult to seek timely and rapid approval
from the entire BHRC on each bill. Novotny proposed a motion that gives blanket approval to the legislative
committee. Novotny will monitor the bills and generally draft testimony to be approved by the legislative
committee. Rhodes as chair will submit the testimony electronically. Meusburger moved, Thasing seconded, to
authorize the legislative committee to submit testimony on bills regarding human rights issues to either our
Brookings legislators or to the applicable legislative committees. Motion passed. Novotny, Rhodes, Thomas
and Thasing volunteered to constituent the legislative committee.
These bills dealing with human rights have been introduced:
HB 1076 requires that birth certificates reflect biological sex. Passed House (Reps. Reed & Tidemann
voted no.) Sen. Smith stated that he will also vote no. BHRC opposes this bill.
SB ?? adds LGBTQ and Two Spirit to the state hate crimes statute. BHRC supports this bill.
SB 90 recognizes hair discrimination as an unfair and discriminatory practice. BHRC supports.
SB 71 designates Juneteenth as a working holiday. Rep. Reed is a co-sponsor. BHRC supports. This
bill will most likely pass.
SB 89 designates Juneteenth as a state holiday. This bill will likely fail. BHRC supports.
SB 97 modifies the composition of the State-Tribal Relations Committee (would restrict Native American
composition of the committee).
SCR 701 supports rescinding the Medals of Honor given to US soldiers involved in the Wounded Knee
Massacre of 1890.
HCR 6001 amends the Sioux-Dakota Removal Act by removing the section that deals with the
banishment of tribes from their ancestral homelands.
Listening Session:
The next listening session will focus on the LGBTQ+ community. Right now around 10 expressed interest in
participating. It will be held on Thursday, February 4, from 7:30 – 9:30 pm. Novotny will be the recorder. Kas
Williams will be moderator. Rhodes will do the introduction. The city manager and mayor plan on attending.
BHRC Review:
Rhodes, Meusburger and Bell will compile the 2020 annual report and submit it to the entire commission for
review.
Rhodes would like to expand the outreach of the BHRC into the Brookings community. Doing things like a town
hall or the community potluck are out of the question during the COVID pandemic. Rhodes is asking members to
submit ideas to him.
Do we want to support the Common Read this year? Do we have the budget this year?
Hildreth brought up the idea of cancelling the Butler award since we receive only 1 or 2 nominations for this.
Novotny noted that the Butler award is probably the best known activity of BHRC. Everyone who has received it
was greatly surprised and honored. It is a great opportunity for the city to recognize its residents for their work
that would otherwise not be known about. Andrew Sloss volunteered to help promote the Butler award. Both
the city manager and Sloss have weekly or monthly radio programs whereby they can promote the awards.
We need to start soliciting nominations for the Youth Award and the Youth Ally Award while school is still in
session instead of waiting to solicit nominations in the summer.
Liaison Reports:
DeGroot reported that the schools have a low level of COVID incidents.
The school board is looking at modernizing the Hillcrest and Medary Elementary buildings.
The school administration is looking at how to properly handle the wearing of the sacred eagle feather during
graduation following an unfortunate incident several years ago.
Thasing asked about curriculum concerning Black History month.
Novotny reported on activities of CLEAR (Community Law Enforcement Action Response) Partners. CLEAR
adopted operating bylaws. CLEAR is right now in the process of collecting information. It received a report on
the various trainings the Brookings Police underwent in 2020. CLEAR met with the administrator of the
Brookings Youth Mentoring Program. They also meet with representatives of the SD ACES (adverse childhood
experiences) organization.
Next meeting will be determined by Doodle poll.
Adjourn: Meeting adjourned at 5:56 pm.
Submitted by Lawrence Novotny, recorder