Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2024/06/18 - ADMIN - Minutes - Human Rights Commission - Regular Human rights commission meeting June 18, 2024 7:00pm If you need special accommodations or have questions about the meeting, please call (Pat Coleman) or the administration department at 952.924.2525. Official minutes Human rights commission Members present: Andrea Alvarez, Katie Lawler Turnball, and Celia Anderson Members absent: Abby Bauer and Alicia Margalli Staff present: Cheyenne Brodeen, administrative services director Pat Coleman, community engagement coordinator Guests: Sue Budd, council member and Nancy Rose, resident 1. Call to order – roll call – 7:02 p.m. 2. Approval of agenda 3. Approval of minutes A motion was made by Commissioner Lawler Turnbull, seconded by Commissioner Alverez, to approve the meeting minutes. Motion carried 4. Old business a. Meeting Date Change The commission discussed changing the time and/or date of the monthly meeting. The consensus of the discussion what that the commission members would like to continue meeting on the third Tuesday of each month but would like to change the time of the meeting to 6:00pm rather than 7:00pm. Ms. Brodeen stated that the commission must adjust their bylaws to reflect the desired change in meeting times and that could be done during the July meeting. Those bylaws would be presented to the commission members during next month’s meeting for review, then eventually taken to council for final approval. Commissioner Turnball stated that she was unable to attend the July meeting due to a pre-planned vacation. Ms. Brodeen responded stating that staff will coordinate alternate meeting times and communicate with the members during the upcoming week. Commissioner Anderson also questioned her roles and responsibilities as the school board representative serving on the human rights commission. Ms. Brodeen reiterated that she is a voting member of the commission, as stated in our city code. Ms. Brodeen also stated that city staff plan to meet with the Human rights commission meeting Pat Coleman school districts administration to discuss the roles and responsibilities of the school board representatives on all boards and commissions. Ms. Brodeen also stated that there could potentially be changes to the city code and boards and commissions rules as procedures because of the meetings between city staff and the school district administration. 5. New business a. Meet Patrick Coleman, community engagement coordinator Mr. Coleman, community engagement coordinator, introduced himself to the commission members. Ms. Brodeen mentioned that Pat would be gradually taking on a larger role and more responsibilities within the human rights commission. b. 2024 Workplan Ms. Brodeen gave an overview of the current commission workplan template detailing the categories: new initiatives, continued initiatives, ongoing responsibilities, how it all aligned with our strategic priorities, and if it’s a commission-initiated project vs and council-initiated project. She also stated that the outcome of this process is to ensure that the work each commission is doing aligns with the guidance given from council. She provided an example of a past council driven initiative that the commission worked on which was assisting with providing recommendations for the neighborhood revitalization program, which will be revisited at some point in the near future. The commission members agreed that that item should be something added to their workplan for the rest of the year. Council member Turnball posed a question of, what other projects has council initiated for the commission? She followed the question by stating that since she’s been on the commission she hasn’t had any communication with council, and that it feels like they’ve always made their own work with the issues they felt are important. She wished there was more interaction with the council to create more work for the commission to do. Ms. Brodeen stated that she wasn’t aware of anything else that came from council for the commission to work on. She mentioned that moving forward, the goal of the boards and commissions program was to create more opportunity for council interaction. Ms. Budd mentioned that prior to covid there was more interaction between commissions and council and since then the communication has lessened over time. She asked if there was a previous workplan years prior the current for the commission to take some past initiatives and decide if they were worth adding to the current workplan as continuing initiatives? Ms. Brodeen answered her question stated that she would be able to dig through her files to look into that information for the commission members, but regardless of what was found it would have to be approved by the council. Human rights commission meeting Pat Coleman Ms. Brodeen mentioned another policy-related item that could be added to the workplan is research into the city’s cashless businesses. Council directed staff to research recommendations centered around this topic, and the continued work would include in the involvement of the HRC moving forward as this would be addressed during the REI system cycle in the fall. Ms. Brodeen suggested another topic to be added to the workplan, which is the community engagement efforts for the group, specifically the Children’s First Literacy Festival that commission members attend annually. The commission members came to a consensus that it made sense to add that item to their workplan. The addition of that item concluded the workplan conversation. Ms. Brodeen provided a breakdown of some upcoming boards and commissions news, including the following: • Fall appointment openings will take place early July for fall appointments. • In August, current workplans will be shared with council at a check-in meeting to bring all commissions in front of council. • The council would like to have a priority setting meeting in November. • Direction from the November priority setting meeting would allow for commissions to come together and complete their workplans for 2025 in December. c. Hopkins High School Incident Commissioner Turnbull provided details regarding a transgender student attending Hopkins High school that was physically assaulted during school hours. She expressed interest in knowing if there was allyship in the schools that served as protection for the LGBTQ+ community in the schools. Commissioner Anderson stated that there was data collected that stated that LGBTQ+ students and staff in St. Louis Park Schools didn’t feel safe nor protected within the schools. She added that there is no accountability within the district regarding issues around this topic. The commission came to a consensus that seeking an allyship for LGBTQ+ community members should be added to their workplan for the remainder of 2024. Commission members then discussed some ways that the commission could support the student that was affected. Ms. Brodeen explained how careful the commission needed to be regarding this subject because it would be addressing an issue in another city and council would likely have to be involved as an advisory commission doesn’t have the power to release public statements on behalf of the city. Human rights commission meeting Pat Coleman Commissioner Anderson expressed that she would be willing to utilize her internal resources to relay a message once there was direction on how to do so. 6. Kudos Commissioner Turnbull stated that she wanted to give kudos to the youth board members, who weren’t in attendance, for completing the school year. Commissioner Anderson stated that she wanted to give kudos to all that were in attendance for the Parktacular parade. 7. Work group/subcommittee updates a. Events subcommittee – Children’s First Literacy Festival Commissioner Turnball expressed an interest in more promotional items and giveaway items for the subcommittee to use when representing the commission at public events. She stated that she would also be interested in shareable voting material to educate families on what’s going on with elections. Commissioner Alverez added her interest in sharing information regarding voting and proposed an idea for potentially having children’s books and a voting activity to educate young children on the process and importance of voting. Ms. Brodeen stated that staff will work on preparing a bin of items for them such as a tablecloth, promotional buttons and tattoos for children, and other items could be discussed moving forward. She also stated that staff could provide information and background to the commission members that can assist with the sharing of important voting/election information. Commissioner Alvarez asked if there was a budget for purchasing materials for tabling? Ms. Brodeen answered her questions stating that if the items requested meet public purpose, that she could investigate what a budget would look like for purchase the desired items. b. Bias motivated crime subcommittee Commissioner Turnball stated that Lt. Garland shared 2 incidents of defaced signage and stolen signage in the community. The commission members came to a consensus that there was no action that needed to be taken regarding the given incidents as the issues were related to sensitive topics where the commission had to power to give statements on behalf of the city. 8. Chair and Staff updates Mr. Coleman stated that all staff updates had been shared earlier in the meeting. Human rights commission meeting Pat Coleman Ms. Brodeen added that all current board members with expiring terms would be notified with details regarding reappointment once the appointment applications opened in early July. 9. Other Business Ms. Budd shared that there will be SLP Pride read in at the St Louis Park Library to celebrate Pride month. 10. Future agenda planning The commission members agreed to reschedule the July meeting to either the first or last week of July. Ms. Brodeen stated that staff would follow up with commission members via email to confirm the date and time of the rescheduled meeting. 11. The commission adjourned at 7:52pm ______________________________________ ______________________________________ Pat Coleman, liaison Katie Lawer Turnball, chair member