HomeMy WebLinkAboutHRCMinutes_2023_04_13
Brookings Human Rights Commission Minutes
Thursday, April 13, 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 (in person); Erica Moore (online); Emma
Qurashi (student representative & behavioral health liaison - online); Casey Bell (city human resources
& staff liaison – in person);
Absent: Mark Johnson; Marjoanne Thompson Collins (SDSU liaison); Caleb Johnson (police liaison);
Marci Gebers (sheriff’s office liaison); Mikaela Neubauer (library liaison); Michele Vande Weerd
(school liaison)
Guest: Joseph Ulloa, applicant for student position
Chair Thasing called the meeting to order at 5:31 pm.
Nagy moved, Gatzke seconded, to approve the agenda with the addition of announcements and the
moving of items that need action to the top of the agenda. Motion passed.
Nagy moved, Gatzke seconded, to approve the minutes of the March 30 meeting dealing with complaint
training. Motion passed. The minutes of the March 09 (regular meeting) were not properly distributed
so approval was postponed to next meeting.
Public Comment
Thasing and Novotny (did others?) volunteered at the SDSU Wacipi on April 01 & 02. Thasing
reported that several people have not heard of the BHRC and showed interest in it.
Diversity Potluck with be held on Saturday, April 22, at McCrory Gardens from 5 – 7 pm. The
Brookings Multi-Cultural Center is joining as a co-sponsor. The BMC will be providing:
a vegan protein dish as a backup food item
a video loop of BMC & BHRC activities
assistance with interactive get-to-know one-another activities
nametags
We have provided chicken at past potlucks as a backup food item. Sodexo (the campus food service
which has an exclusive catering contract with McCrory Gardens) is charging $6/piece of chicken which
is out of our budget range. We are now looking at having the chicken donated. It was discussed about
the appropriateness of the BHRC seeking donations for events. Would this open us up to being
influenced by the donor? Bell said we can ask for donations as long as they are a nominal amount. We
should have a definition of what is a nominal amount. We will ask BHRC members to donate 10-15
pieces of chicken. We also will be seeking donations of coffee.
Student’s Association Liaison
At the March 09 meeting, the SDSU Students Association asked to establish a liaison with BHRC and
we agreed to this request. On March 22, the Student Association (SA) submitted the formal liaison
application with Harley Fischer being listed as the SA liaison. Nagy moved, Fickes seconded, to
approve the Student Association liaison. Motion passed.
Student Representative
One application was received for the SDSU student representative to BHRC. The applicant is Joseph
Calog, a student majoring in history, political science, global studies, and Spanish. He had visited with
Thasing about the position. Gatzke moved, Moore seconded, to forward Calog’s application to the
mayor for approval. Motion passed.
Increasing our Agility
Nagy reported that a few weeks ago, BHRC has received a request from SD Voices for Peace that
SDVFP will be issuing a press release about a neo-Nazi which has been identified as living in Brookings
and is spewing hatred on social media. SDVFP was asking BHRC to join them as a signatory on the
press release. SDVFP could not wait until our April meeting for approval and released the information
to the media without BHRCs name on it.
Nagy noted that BHRC has given the legislative WG authority to act on legislative bills without seeking
approval of the entire BHRC. Nagy is proposing to give the executive committee (chair, vice-chair &
recorder) similar authority to act on urgent items between BHRC meetings. Such items would be
responding to requests from signing onto statements from like-minded organizations to show solidarity.
The question was raised why can’t a special meeting be called of the BHRC if action is needed. A
special meeting can be called but meeting laws require a 24-hour public notice be given before the
meeting. A public notice consists of posting the meeting agenda on the city’s website and on the public
information board in the building’s entryway. Bell noted that it is difficult to get the agenda posted on
the website within 24-hours before a special meeting.
It was decided to table this item for further investigation. Bell will find out if there are different rules
that govern the convening of emergency meetings.
DEI trainings
Thasing, Nagy, Novotny, Gatzke, Fickes, and Amandi attended the SDSU “Reaching for the Summit”
training on March 25. We heard what the presenters Ashley Nicole Smith and Mike Grewe have to
offer as DEI trainers. Fickes is proposing inviting Marlene Schultz (a former SDSU professor now
living in Sioux Falls) to see what she can offer as to DEI training. Fickes moved, Nagy seconded, that
Marlene Schultz be invited to present at a special meeting of the BHRC and that BHRC reimburse
Schultz up to a $100 for travel and food. Motion passed.
School staff resources
At the last meeting, Michele Vande Weerd requested suggestions for Brookings school staff summer
professional development. Some of this will hinge on what we come up with for our DEI trainings. It
was mentioned that teachers get some DEI training but it is not extensive. It was suggested to tie our
recommendations to our anti-bullying campaign.
Anti-Bullying campaign
The website www.stopbullying.gov has free materials for businesses and teachers. The California Dept
of Education also has good resources. https://www.cde.ca.gov/ls/ss/se/bullyres.asp
We need to find out what the school is offering for anti-bullying and see how it can connect with our
campaign.
We need to do an assessment that doesn’t use the word “bullying” but describes bullying activities.
Volunteers were asked to form an anti-bullying task force to meet with the school to discuss an
assessment.
People expressing interest in the anti-bullying task force were Thasing, Amandi, Qurashi, Joseph Ulloa,,
and Nagy. Novotny indicated the CLEAR would also be interested in this.
HRC brochure
Novotny drafted a 1-sheet flier about the BHRC to be handed out at the diversity potluck. Nagy
suggested converting the flier into a brochure. Amandi will work on this.
Welcoming New Residents
BHRC received this request from the Brookings Chamber of Commerce:
My name is Casey Stickland, and I am the Outreach Coordinator at the Brookings Area Chamber of Commerce.
As you may have heard the City of Brookings has developed a new economic development master plan which
has created some new priorities for our community. One of those new priorities is to welcome our new
residents to the community! With that said the economic development agencies here in Brookings have
decided that the Chamber would take on this important initiative. Some ideas already in the works are a new
website of resources, a Downtown at Sundown new resident welcome night, and some social events to help
these new residents find their place here in Brookings.
I am reaching out to ask for your help in finding a representative from the City of Brookings in a New Resident
Taskforce that will help to evolve the process by which new residents experience our community. With this
being a community-wide effort, we want to bring in diverse perspectives so that we can lay the foundation for
this new effort. I am seeking your involvement on this temporary planning task force as your name came up in
the conversations happening around this initiative. The task force would meet four times to hone in on what is
valuable and what should be offered in this program. Below are the dates that we have set to start work on this
project.
May 2nd – 9:00am – 10:30am
May 16th – 9:00am – 10:30am
May 30th – 9:00am – 10:30am
June 13th – 9:00am – 10:30am
I hope you consider sitting on this important task force to ensure that our newest faces in Brookings are
welcomed in a valuable and intentional way. If you are interested in serving on this task force please reply to this
email and let me know so I can get meeting invites sent out to you.
Mark Johnson agreed to represent BHRC on the new resident taskforce. Joseph Ulloa is also willing to
participate. Gatzke has another name to recommend. It was recommended to suggest to the Chamber
that the meetings should be during non-working hours in order to allow working people to participate.
Adjourn:
All other agenda items were tabled to a future meeting.
Meeting adjourned at 7:10 pm.
Submitted by Lawrence Novotny, recorder