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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2005/06/06 - ADMIN - Minutes - City Council - Study Session F OFFICIAL MINUTES 7SAOUPcS CITY COUNCIL STUDY SESSION RK June 6, 2005 The meeting convened at 6:33 p.m. Councilmembers present: John Basil', Phil Finkelstein, Paul Omodt, Susan Sanger, Sue Santa, Sally Velick and Mayor Jeff Jacobs. Staff present: City Manager(Mr. Harmening), Outreach Coordinator (Ms. McDonell) and Recording Secretary (Ms. Stegora-Peterson). 1. Human Rights Community Survey Results The following members of the Human Rights Commission (HRC) were present: Matthew Armbrecht (Chair), Karmit Bulman, Michael Cohn, Jason Hutchison, Knsti Rudehus-Palmer, Kristin Siegesmund and Shelly Taylor. Ms. McDonnell reviewed the staff report. Mr. Armbrecht indicated the survey was a beginning to identify who was in the community and the issues that they wanted to spend their time on. He reviewed the community response ideas for discussion listed in the report. Councilmember Santa noted in her ward, many apartments have high Hispanic populations, who typically don't attend events, and are often single without children. How were they thinking about moving forward and were they going to concentrate on both people who live and work in St. Louis Park? Mr. Armbrecht indicated they wanted to hear from people who worked in the community and believed they were a part of the community and wanted to make them feel welcomed. Councilmember Santa asked if they were engaging employees? Ms. McDonell replied that was an area that they missed and could address. Councilmember Santa stated they needed to follow up on that piece, or not even start. The English as a Second Language program at Central community center was an area where people from different countnes interact in the community and children also interact. That would be an area to focus on. Councilmember Omodt referred to the idea of the diversity fair. He felt it would be good to integrate diversity with existing events, which would be more welcoming as opposed to a stand-alone event. They should program it into what they were already doing which would make people feel more comfortable. Ms. Taylor indicated that the Commission wanted to look to the leadership of varying groups and ask what they thought should be done. Councilmember Finkelstein indicated the Council has had discussions regarding board and commissions and if membership should be limited to only residents of St. Louis Park. Mr. Armbrecht indicated the HRC had also discussed the issue. Councilmember Santa thought there was an opportunity to foster leadership in diverse populations. Study Session Minutes -2- June 6, 2005 Councilmember Basill referred to schools being diverse. He suggested that the Commission bring this to the School Board and also Community Education (CEAC). Councilmember Finkelstein stated there is a large percentage of non native-born Americans which was very exciting and would serve them well. He had an interest in learning more about other cultures and believed that an Ambassador program would be good for people to learn more about other cultures. They could have a list of interested people who could help people to understand others differences. There were also many hours available for public television and they could interview people from different cultures for programming. Ms. Siegesmund suggested engaging high school students in the interviewing and production. Councilmember Santa added it would be interesting to interview students from different cultures about what their experiences had been. Mr. Armbrecht noted one of their goals was to identify leadership Councilmember Finkelstein stated that disability and age issues were also important. Councilmember Sanger asked what the Commissions intended to do with the information? Ms. Taylor noted that the survey was not statistically accurate. They needed to understand various groups better. Mr. Armbrecht noted they were pleased to have write-in comments on the surveys. They were interested in getting the Council's ideas and how they felt some of the issues should be addressed. Councilmember Finkelstein suggested that the HRC go before the Rotary club. Ms. Rudelius-Palmer believed they needed to have a dialogue and referred to the City of Chaska where they had an open dialogue on race done by the Police Chief. Ms. McDonell noted in the survey that the Police came out well. The highest percent of- discrimination occurred in neighborhoods, stores and shops. People who are multi racial or scattered religions didn't feel as welcomed. Lower income residents didn't feel as welcomed. The Somali community showed a high level of satisfaction and felt valued. People with disabilities did not feel as safe. They needed to find out why that was. Councilmember Sanger stated that once they had starting obtaining data, they had an obligation to do something with it. Ms. McDonell asked if the Council felt something needed to be addressed now or if there were concerns? Councilmember Finkelstein noted there were few responses from Russian residents. Mr. Armbrecht noted that surveys were put out for people. They recognized they would learn from this. Study Session Minutes -3- June 6, 2005 Councilmember Velick was concerned by the rise from 11 to 18% in negative feelings. They should possibly connect with a think tank and find out where to go. The forum was also a good idea. Councilmember Santa felt cautionary because this was a small, self-selected sampling. She was concerned about the socio economic piece and people who lived in apartments, who were self isolating because they didn't feel like they could afford the same things and older people. Mr. Harmening noted that the vast majority of respondents were women. There may be gender issues coupled with diversity. Ms. Siegesmund noted that there was a huge response from Aquila School and the survey was probably filled out by many of the mothers. Ms. McDonell stated when the Vision Outcome survey was done, it did not ask race or disability. This survey had a higher population of racial minorities. They would add that question to the Vision survey this year to confirm a few of these things Councilmember Sanger stated a number of comments were bigoted religiously. They may want to look at that further. Mr. Hutchison thought one way was to reach out to different communities and identify leadership. Another was to find leadership and let them know that the Commission is available. There was an educational issue. Ms Siegesmund asked for guidance from the Council. They had a very small budget. If they were to go to a think tank, or do more surveys, it would require more funding. Councilmember Basill suggested the Commission bring the survey results before the School Board or PTO's. Schools were very diverse. They could build off that because they meet parents from different backgrounds. They could also go to the Rotary and businesses who could reach out with employment opportunities. These did not require funding. Councilmember Finkelstein believed educating people on different cultures was important. People needed to be treated with respect and dignity. Councilmember Sanger suggested presenting the videos and doing interviews on public television. The Council would consider funding if the Commission pnontized their ideas. Mr. Harmening noted they were in the process of putting together the 2006 budget. Councilmember Velick liked the idea of the Police being involved in seminars, which wouldn't cost a lot. Councilmember Sanger suggested they work with the Police Advisory Commission. Mr Cohn presented videos: Understanding Disabilities and Outreach and Understanding Assistive Technology. Study Session Minutes -4- June 6, 2005 Ms. McDonell stated that they would bring forward a new Work Plan and focus on community education through forums and cable television. Councilmember Sanger believed that the suggestions made by the HRC were positive and she supported them. They needed to take it further and pnontize The next step would be for the Commission Work Plan to submit their next work plan Ms. Rudelius-Palmer asked for the leadership of the Council. She saw a need for an integration when planning events and asked that the HRC be included and that there be a team approach. Mayor Jacobs descnbed a seminar he attended about cultural differences, which was very valuable. He would like to see something like that where there were discussion about cultural differences. Ms. Rudehus-Palmer also suggested a Youth Advisory Board to the City Council as something to consider. Mayor Jacobs noted they had something similar. The meeting adjourned at 7:18 p.m. /2,---.---4. 9& /it a- CI Clerk ' Ma or I