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Brookings Human Rights Commission Minutes
Thursday, June 16, 2022
Brookings City & County Government Center and Go To Meeting App
Attendance: Nieema Thasing (chair -online); Dianne Nagy (vice-chair – online); Lawrence Novotny,
(recorder and CLEAR Partners liaison– in person); Dan Berg (in person); Erica Moore (online); Emma
Qurashi (student representative – online); Charlene ‘Charlie’ Ward (county representative & Disabilities
Awareness Committee liaison– in person); Mikaela Neubauer (library liaison – in person); Caleb
Johnson (police liaison – in person); Bruce Pengra (sustainability council liaison – in person); Casey
Bell (city human resources & staff liaison – in person);
Absent: Tracy Chapman; Joel Gindo; Erinn Thomas; Marci Gebers (sheriff’s office liaison); Michele
Vande Weerd (school liaison); Alex Wood (SDSU liaison)
Chair Thasing called the meeting to order at 5:30 pm.
Ward moved, Berg seconded, to adopt the agenda with the addition of budget, new working group, and
pride report. Motion passed. Nagy moved, Moore seconded, to add to the agenda action on listening
session action items. Motion passed.
Interim police chief Steve Lamkin arrived and introduced himself. He visited with BHRC for a few
minutes and left.
Berg moved, Ward seconded, to approve the minutes of the May 19 meeting with this correction: under
Member Absence, strike the name and replace with “A member”. Motion passed.
Public Comments
Moore reported that someone contacted her regarding the food service company that has the contract
with SDSU. This company also has the contract to provide food service to the state prison system.
Prison inmates are predominantly Native and people of color. The individual has concerns that the food
service company is using prisoners as part of their labor force and the concern deals with the fairness of
this practice. It was recommended that this concern be forwarded to the complaint WG.
Liaison Reports:
Brookings Police Dept (Johnson): The police participated in the June 9 kids bike rodeo which involved
around 200 kids. June 24 is coffee with a cop at Kool Beans from 9-10:30. Officers have taken
photos with animals at the Humane Society to encourage adoption of the animals. The school resource
officer conducted DARE programs for 250 fifth graders.
Disabilities Awareness Committee (Ward): The DAC will be serving SDSU ice cream at the July 17
community band performance.
Library (Neubauer): hosted 2 pride program events which were attended by some new people. Have a
display of LGBTQ+ books during pride month and have not received any negative feedback. Am
seeking volunteers for facilitator training on August 27.
CLEAR Partners (Novotny) – had a meeting with the interim police chief. One of his objectives is to
focus on community policing.
Sustainability Council (Pengra) – Had a tour of the wastewater treatment plant. The Council is asking
the city to budget $130,000 to develop a climate action plan.
Brookings Economic Development Master Plan—Resonance (the contracting agency) will be holding
stakeholder roundtable discussions on July 19-20. They are seeking community members to participate
in one or more of these areas:
• Economic and Workforce Development Partners. A dialogue with Brookings’ economic development
partners.
• Small Business/ Entrepreneurship. A discussion to learn more about Brookings as an innovation/
entrepreneur hub.
• Quality of Place/ Destination Development/Tourism. A session to discuss Brookings' place making,
arts/culture, and destination assets.
• Young Professionals/ Talent. A roundtable with young professionals – a key talent target.
• Commercial Real Estate. A discussion with Brookings’ commercial real estate community.
• Advanced Manufacturing. A session to learn more about the opportunities of advanced manufacturing
in Brookings.
• Ag Innovation. A session to learn more about the opportunities of precision agriculture in Brookings
• Major Employers. A discussion with Brookings' major employers/ anchor companies
• Bio-Processing
• Equity, inclusion, and quality of life that targets historically marginalized and disenfranchised groups
Brookings schools (Berg): The high school will be holding a diversity fair in November.
Budget
Nagy moved, Moore seconded, to expend $90 to print 250 business cards. Motion passed.
Two individuals gave BHRC $22 in cash as a donation towards the diversity signs during the pride
event.
Police Liaison
Bell and Novotny had e-mail conversations with the Human Rights Campaign regarding the role of the
police liaison, It was learned that: The liaison is an advocate for fair and respectful enforcement of the
law as well as an officer [or staff member] that the community can rely upon to appropriately respond
to sensitive issues. LGBTQ+ police liaisons can help ensure that bias-motivated crimes are properly
investigated and reported, victims are not misgendered, and the community is kept abreast of the
investigation’s progress. The liaison must be a member of the police department and be able to report
directly to the police chief should any issues arise.
Member Absence
About 15 minutes was spent discussing this issue. We need to take into consideration not only a
member’s attendance at commission meetings but also their involvement in working groups and
attendance at BHRC events. The chair has reached out to the individual in question and there are
technical issues with online meeting participation. No one is being removed from the BHRC at this
point.
Moore moved, Berg seconded, to create an ad hoc committee to re-define the BHRC member
expectations and attendance policy and to develop a method to evaluate members participation in
BHRC. Motion passed. Berg, Moore, and Johnson volunteered to be part of the ad hoc committee
along with Bell.
Working Groups:
Moore moved, Nagy seconded, to create an indigenous peoples working group and one of its functions
will be to start an indigenous festival. Motion passed. Moore, Johnson, Neubauer, and Thasing
volunteered to be part of this working group. Also added to the WG following the meeting were Chuck
Woodard, Nicole Biever, and Sarah Bad Warrior-Vrooman.
Nagy moved, Ward seconded, that Bell send the following messages regarding the listening session
recommendations. Motion passed.
Dear BEDC and Chamber of Commerce,
Over the past several years, the Human Rights Commission (HRC) has hosted multiple listening sessions with
historically marginalized and disenfranchised populations in the Brookings area. I am writing to share with you
some of the learning that emerged from these discussions. Listed below are concrete steps you can take to not
only advance your organization's mission, but also help make Brookings a more welcoming and inclusive
community:
• Bring to town someone who has the skills to style the hair of people of African descent. This stylist could
be employed at a local salon or rent a chair to offer services for a few hours per week. HRC Chair
Nieema Thasing (just.nieema@gmail.com) offered to serve as a resource in helping to identify potential
stylists.
• Revamp a mechanism to effectively welcome and orient newcomers to the community, be it an online
portal, a traditional "welcome wagon", or some other approach.
• Publicly identify and recognize businesses that are friendly to minority communities and/or provide
language support (especially Spanish-speaking).
• Provide Safe Zone, racial profiling, and microaggression training for local businesses.
Dear BATA Board,
Over the past several years, the Human Rights Commission (HRC) has hosted multiple listening sessions with
historically marginalized and disenfranchised populations in the Brookings area. A recurring theme that
emerged from these discussions is the need for greater public transportation options, especially on the
weekends, to Sioux Falls, and to ag producers that employ Brookings County residents. Please consider
expanding your services accordingly. We believe this would not only advance your organization's mission, but
also help make Brookings a more welcoming and inclusive community.
Dear HRC Listening Session participants,
Thank you for participating in a community listening session hosted by the Brookings Human Rights Commission
(HRC). We appreciate the time, insights, experience, and perspectives you shared with us. I'm writing to let you
know that we have passed along some concrete suggestions that emerged from the discussion to the Chamber
of Commerce, the Brookings Economic Development Corporation, and the Brookings Area Transit Authority. A
subgroup of the HRC is also working on a plan to provide diversity training for city staff, boards, and
organizations. If you have any desire to assist with or participate in that or other initiatives of the HRC, please
know that you are always welcome. Should you require any assistance in working with the city to host your own
cultural celebrations or events, we stand ready to help.
Pride Report
The Brookings Pride event was held at Pioneer Park bandshell on June 11. The event which featured a
drag show was attended by approximately 200 people. The mayor read a proclamation. BHRC had an
information table and handed out diversity signs and stickers.
The city’s pride flags were on display on Main Avenue from June 6-12. Only 1 flag was damaged on
Friday night but it is repairable.
The city manager has been fielding complaints both before and after the event as to why the city was
supporting a drag show in a public park. The city manager has been very supportive of the pride event.
At the June 14 city council meeting, a citizen thanked the Council for their support of pride while a
married couple criticized having a drag show in the park. Overall, there was more public support for
the pride event.
Adjourn: Meeting adjourned at 7:13 pm.
Submitted by Lawrence Novotny, recorder