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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2024/07/23 - ADMIN - Minutes - Human Rights Commission - Regular Human rights commission meeting July 23, 2024 6:00pm If you need special accommodations or have questions about the meeting, please call (Pat Coleman 952-924-2518) or the administration department at 952.924.2525. Official minutes Human rights commission Members present: Andrea Alvarez, Katie Lawler Turnball, Celia Anderson, Abby Bauer Members absent: Alicia Margalli Staff present: Pat Coleman, Community Engagement coordinator Marcus Paul, Elections Specialist Guests: 1. Call to order – roll call – 6:03pm 2. Approval of Agenda A motion was made by Commissioner Andrea Alvarez, seconded by Commissioner Bauer, to approve the meeting agenda. Motion carried 3. Approval of minutes A motion was made by Commissioner Lawler Turnbull, seconded by Commissioner Bauer, to approve the meeting minutes. Motion carried 4. Old Business a. By-Law Updates The commission concluded that the only change they wanted to make to their bylaws was adjusting the time of their scheduled monthly meetings to 6:00pm on the third Tuesday of each month. Mr. Coleman updated commission members on the process of changing the bylaws and let them know that the change wouldn’t officially be made until all bylaws for other commissions were updated and everything was approved by council. Until that happens, the commission will continue to adjust the time of their meeting time on a monthly basis as long as they are in compliance with the open meeting law requirements and guidelines. b. Update on Hopkins High School incident Human rights commission meeting Catherine Lawler Commissioner Lawler gave a recap of the assault incident involving an LGBTQ+ student at Hopkins High school to commission member who missed last months meeting. Commissioner Anderson informed the commission that regarding making a statement addressing the situation, once completed can be sent directly to the school board. Mr. Coleman reiterated to the group that there still needed to be a level of carefulness as we want to ensure that we aren’t making a statement on behalf of the city. Commissioner Lawler stated that she would work on a draft given guidance that she had received previously from their staff liaison. c. Work Plan Update Commissioner Lawler posed the question of would the commission be interested in community connections series similar to the internal initiative that already exists within the cities REI department and add that to their work plan. Mr. Coleman informed the group that it would be beneficial to first connect with the staff from the REI department to discuss the possibilities for collaboration on the current existing initiative and allow that conversation create next steps. Mr. Coleman also stated that he would work with the REI department to have staff come to an upcoming meeting to have this conversation. 5. New Business a. Budget Discussion – Public Purpose Mr. Coleman addressed some questions from commission members regarding access to funds that can be utilized for purchasing swag/giveaway items when they are at community events representing their commission/the city. He informed them that there were currently no funds allocated for this type of spending. He also explained that if there was a budget for boards and commissions, that the spending would have to align with Public Purpose. b. August council check-in meeting Commissioner Lawler stated what she understood the purpose of the check-in meeting with council was going to be. To her understanding this was a meeting where boards and commission members were invited to give council and update on what they’ve been doing throughout the year and what they plan on doing to finish the year. Human rights commission meeting Catherine Lawler Mr. Coleman agreed with commissioner Lawler’s statement on what would take place during the meeting. He then reminded the commission members that this would be a roundtable discussion where one representative from each commission would give an update to council detailing what they have done throughout the year and what they plan to continue working on throughout the rest of the year. Commission members came to the consensus that commissioner Lawler would be their representative at the upcoming meeting. Mr. Coleman informed the commission that there may be an additional component to this meeting that commission representatives may need to prepare for, and once that information was available, he would share it with the commission members. He also asked if there was any additional information the commission members felt necessary to share with the council. Commissioner Alvarez stated that she didn’t feel as if there was any additional information they had to share as they expressed any questions and concerns during the engagement process of the redesign project. c. Fall appointment process Mr. Coleman stated that applications opened July 8th, 2024 and close August 26th. He also stated that ideally appointments will be made in early October, with orientations taking place in late October, and a tentative start date for all newly appointed members November 1st. d. Serve in the Parks engagement opportunity Mr. Coleman presented the Serve in the Parks engagement opportunity to the commission, as commission member Alvarez represented the group and volunteered to be part of the process. 6. Kudos No Kudos 7. Work group/subcommittee updates a. Update on Children First Literacy Event Commissioner Lawler informed the other commission members that will be joining her at the Children First Literacy Event of all the program details they needed to be aware of going into the August 11th, event. Meet Marcus Paul – Elections specialist Human rights commission meeting Catherine Lawler City staff Marcus Paul informed the commission information that can be shared during their tabling event, and how to properly share that information. 8. Chair and staff updates No additional updates 9. Other business No other business 10. Future agenda planning Council check-in Meeting Prep 11. Adjournment – 7:13 pm ______________________________________ ______________________________________ Pat Coleman, liaison Catherine Lawler, chair member