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Brookings Human Rights Commission Minutes
Thursday, February 09, 2023
Brookings City/County Government Center and Zoom Meeting App
Attendance: Nieema Thasing (chair -online); Dianne Nagy (vice-chair – in person); Lawrence Novotny,
(recorder and CLEAR Partners liaison– in person); Behnoosh Amandi (county representative – in
person); Amanda Fickes (in person); Carla Gatzke (online); Mark Johnson (online); Caleb Johnson
(police liaison – in person); Mikaela Neubauer (library liaison – in person); Marjoanne Thompson
Collins (SDSU liaison - online); Michele Vande Weerd (school liaison - online); Casey Bell (city human
resources & staff liaison – in person);
Absent: Dan Berg; Erica Moore; Emma Qurashi (student representative & behavioral health liaison –
online); Marci Gebers (sheriff’s office liaison);
Guest: Michael Drake, Brookings police chief
Chair Thasing called the meeting to order at 5:36 pm.
Behnoosh Amandi was introduced as the new county representative to replace Charlie Ward. Amandi
moved to Brookings in 2019 and has a media background. She joined the media WG.
Nagy moved, Gatzke seconded, to approve the agenda. Motion passed.
Nagy moved, Fickes seconded, to approve the minutes of the January 12 meeting. Motion passed.
Thasing passed along that she received comments from five people who appreciate the work BHRC is
doing.
OLD BUSINESS
Educating Ourselves: Thasing would like each member to read the book Nice Racism. The book will
be added to the Brookings Library book bag program whereby 6 copies of the same book are placed in a
bag which is checked out to be shared by a group. The library will fund half of the costs of purchasing
six books. Nagy moved, Fickes seconded, that BHRC fund the other half in the amount of $37.41.
Motion passed.
Thasing and her husband will be gifting the book to the Brookings police chief and the sheriff.
MEI scorecard: Novotny has an old PowerPoint on the MEI which he will update and give a
presentation at the April meeting.
Complaint Process: The BHRC member review of the process was received this week. Fickes will
conduct a doodle poll to find a date whereby the process will be presented to the entire BHRC.
Pamphlets: We need to obtain copies of the pamphlets from the sheriff for our review.
Website: Nagy sent recommendations for updates. The minutes and membership roster has been
updated. Other portions of the website still need updating.
DEI training: We are seeking recommendations on effective trainings to be conducted for city
employees and also be made available to businesses.
SDSU has conducted several 2-hour workshops that Collins recommends.
The police department just concluded its own training series.
The bystander training that BHRC hosted in 2021 was not well received by some participants. One
reason could be that it was conducted via Zoom. The breakout sessions would have been more effective
if they could be done in person.
Assess BHRC effectiveness: Each working group needs to start reviewing their goals and assessing
their outcomes. This will be an ongoing process.
Annual report was compiled by Thasing, Nagy, and Novotny. Nagy reviewed the report with everyone.
Nagy encouraged the development of action plans to advance the goals outlined in the report. The
action plans would have individuals designated to do the work and would also have a timeline.
Novotny moved, Fickes seconded, to adopt the 2022 annual report. Motion passed.
NEW BUSINESS None
LIAISON REPORTS
Brookings Police: Christmas with Cops had good participation from various law enforcement agencies.
The monthly Coffee with a Cop has interagency involvement but its needs better promotion. A new
program Create with a Cop has law enforcement assisting kids with art projects at the Children’s
Museum. Johnson reported that a lot of other police departments around the nation have LGBTQ+
liaisons and there are training programs available to assist with liaison development.
SDSU UPD: Officers have been teaching a defense course for females and have been conducting
programs in the dorms dealing with the consequences of underage drinking and fake IDs.
Brookings Schools: Vande Weerd is looking for ideas for staff professional development over the
summer. The school’s strategic plan will be presented at the end of February.
SDSU: The Multi-Cultural Center is hosting events during Black History Month.
Library is hosting a series of Black History month events which averaged around 25 in attendance so far.
Neubauer is still looking for readers for the read-in. She needs a BHRC representative to speak at the
Feb 28 closing celebration.
WORKING GROUPS
Social Media/Communications: Fickes and Amandi have been doing postings and sharing postings from
other sites. About 35 more people have joined the facebook page. They would love to receive emails
from members if they find any news/events/posts that fit to the BHRC facebook page. This would help
us to increase the number of our posts and increase the traffic on the page.
The question is what postings are appropriate to share. Fickes and Amandi had a zoom meeting with
the city’s public relations staffer and she walked them through a document about what can and can't
do/share on a social media platform as a government entity basied on 1st Amendment. Postings of a
political nature should not be done.
Legislature: Thasing submitted comments on these bills:
HB 1080 which bans medical care for trans youth. Bill passed the Legislature and will be
signed by Governor.
SB 164 (creates a Commission on Indian Affairs) was killed in committee.
SB 163 (permits honor song at graduation) was killed in committee.
Other bills of interest:
HB 1163 (prohibits obscene materials in libraries and schools) was killed in committee.
SB 169 (establishes a Commission on Truth and Reconciliation) was killed in committee.
HB 1125 & HB 1116 (prohibits drag shows) and HB 1092 (respect for marriage) will all be
heard on Monday.
Common Read: Gatzke submitted her vote for the book of choice.
Inclusivity/Community Outreach: The diversity potluck is scheduled for April 22. The WG is looking
at holding 3 more listening sessions. Neubauer reported that the reports of the past listening sessions
have been beneficial when writing grants.
Africans in the Diaspora Cultural Awareness:
The film Race Amity: The Other Tradition which deals with working across race barriers will be shown
on Feb 11 at 3 pm at the Brookings Public Library; Feb 17 at 6 pm in the Community Room of the
City/County Government Building; and Feb 26 at 1 pm in the East Side Fire Hall. We will need people
to serve as moderators to lead discussion following the showing. A community discussion will be
planned following the Feb 26 showing.
BUDGET
Expenses for this fiscal year so far have been the MLK award checks.
Adjourn:
Meeting adjourned at 6:56 pm.
Submitted by Lawrence Novotny, recorder