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HomeMy WebLinkAbout~Master - Ames Human Relations Commission Minutes 05/22/2025Minutes AMES HUMAN RELATIONS COMMISSION Conference Room 235 City Hall, 515 Clark Avenue Thursday, May 22, 2025 Call to Order: Chair Annabella Marquez called the meeting to order at 5:32 p.m. Commissioners Shawn Kenny, Pablo Suarez Beltran, and Zhengyuan Zhu and Engagement Coordinator Casandra Eames were also present. Commissioners Chunhui Chen and Marty Martinez joined the meeting telephonically. Commissioner Sarah Nolin was absent. Public Forum: No one came forward to speak. Guest: Joan Winter – “Our History: Black Stories for America” Film Series: This item was moved to later in the meeting as the guest was not present. Approval of Minutes from April 24, 2025: Moved by Marquez, seconded by Kenny, to approve the minutes. Motion carried unanimously. Budget Update: Staff discovered that the sponsorship for Pridefest from the fall was not paid in full, so Eames followed up with Ames Pride on getting an invoice from them. Guest: Joan Winter – “Our History: Black Stories for America” Film Series: Joan Winter, Estella Louder, and Edna Y. Clinton shared about a film series organized by the Unitarian Universalist church in partnership with the NAACP and Friendship Baptist Church. The topic of the series is “Echoes of Resilience: African American Experiences in the U.S.” From June 24 to August 12, a film will be shown each Tuesday at 6:00 p.m. in the Ames Public Library Auditorium, followed by a facilitated discussion of the film. The Commission was invited to attend and to help publicize the series. Charles Pearson Civil War/Civil Rights Bus Tour: Charles Pearson shared about the upcoming Civil War/Civil Rights Bus Tour, highlighting the history he intended to feature. Iowa Public Television will be filming a video of the educational tour. Suarez Beltran, Marquez, and Eames all planned to attend. FACES Planning Update: Suarez Beltran reported that he had not sent the outreach emails yet but would be sending them that same evening. Update on Review of Municipal Code Chapter 14 – Human Relations: Eames reached out to the cities that investigate themselves. Of those that that had responded to date, none were planning to change their ordinances, but none had capacity to take on outside investigations. Eames would continue trying to connect with those that had not responded yet. Upcoming Events: The Iowa HRCs Gathering will be held on June 7 at the Ames Public Library Rotary Room from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Ten individuals from six cities RSVP’d. The commissioners discussed changes to the draft agenda before finalizing the agenda. The Juneteenth Celebration is scheduled for June 14 at Bandshell Park from 12:30 – 5:00 p.m. Point person Marquez is coordinating signups. Staff will have maps printed so that visitors can put a sticker on where they are from as an engagement activity. National Night Out is scheduled for Tuesday, August 5, from 5:30-8:00 p.m., with setup starting at 4:00 p.m. The event will be held at the Ames Middle School. Eames signed the Commission up for a spot; a table and chairs will be provided. Suarez Beltran volunteered to be the point person for the event. Moved by Kenny, seconded by Marquez, to have staff order a pop-up tent. Motion carried unanimously. Commissioner Announcements: Suarez Beltran recapped the Meet & Greet event, noting that Council Member Rollins joined for a bit and many color books and crayons were distributed. Eames explained that, as the City Council was trying to be more engaged in the community, she had offered the Council a standing invitation to join the Commission at its events. She also thanked Kenny for his donation of folding chairs. Suarez Beltran shared his idea of writing thank you cards for those hosting the Meet & Greet events, which was immediately implemented. Eames invited Commissioners to be guests on her Up Close podcast and several volunteered. Suarez Beltran shared his progress on the next volume of the coloring book and noted that Marquez was assisting with writing text and interactive activities for the books. Chen noted that there were still more names that should be included, and Eames encouraged the Commissioners to share any ideas for the coloring book with Suarez Beltran. Next Meeting: June 26, 2025 Adjournment: The meeting adjourned at 7:41 p.m.