HomeMy WebLinkAbout~Master - Ames Human Relations Commission Minutes 1/10/2026MINUTES
AMES HUMAN RELATIONS COMMISSION
Council Chambers
City Hall, 515 Clark Avenue
January 10, 2026
Call to Order
Chair Annabella Marquez called the meeting of the Ames Human Relations Commission
(AHRC) to order at 9:06am. In attendance were Commissioners Shawn Kenny, Pablo
Suarez Beltran, Assistant City Manager Pa Vang Goldbeck, and Principal Clerk Jeramy
Neefus. Commissioner Sarah Nolin joined the meeting electronically.
Strategic Planning Session
Neefus introduced the opening Strengths, Opportunities, Aspirations, and Risks (SOAR)
activity before explaining that Engagement Coordinator Casandra Eames was unable to
attend and Marty Martinez had resigned due to his health.
Commissioner Zhengyuan Zhu joined the meeting at 9:10am.
Goldbeck shared updates regarding progress on the ordinance adding civil rights
protections for gender identity to the Municipal Code, noting that the process for
handling investigations locally had yet to be determined.
The ideas identified in the SOAR activity were then discussed:
• Strengths
o Educating the community
o Support from the community
o Diverse team of committed members from different backgrounds
o Well-established and reinvigorated
• Opportunities
o Current political discussions about human rights
o Community support for starting new events
o Speed of progress/action
o Data collection
o Finding more groups/contacts for events in the community
• Aspirations
o Known by the community
o Community-wide events
o More specific outreach
o To be more data-informed advisors to the City Council
o Increased impact and reach
o Community engagement
• Risks
o Apprehension to engage in “politics” in the current political climate
o Perception of AHRC
o Limiting impact due to fear of limited scope or ability
o Limited number of people to get things done
o Misinformation
o Bias
Neefus reviewed the goals for the remainder of the work session; the relationship
between Chapter 14, the Strategic Plan, and the Annual Report; and the elements of a
Strategic Plan before opening discussion about the desired duration for the plan. The
current duration of three years remained an option, but a longer duration could be
paired with annual review with the option to amend the plan. The Commissioners
concluded that a longer duration made sense if a yearly check-in during the preparation
of the Annual Report was implemented.
Goldbeck led the Commissioners in discussion about the goals included in the 2023 -
2025 Strategic Plan. Consensus was reached that Goal D, Management Excellence,
was implied and not necessary as an enumerated goal. Suarez Beltran assessed that
Goal C, Public Awareness & Effective Communication, was what AHRC did best, while
Goal A, Advocacy, seemed more aspirational. He also noted Zh u’s hope to improve on
Goal B, Information & Analysis, and shared that he was not sure if AHRC had the
capacity to pursue it further. Zhu stated that strategic planning worked by first identifying
what should be done and then determining how to accomplish it.
With consensus reached on retaining some version of Goals A -C, Goldbeck shifted the
conversion toward discussion of the objectives associated with the goals. There was
broad support for Zhu’s proposal to organize the objectives under Goal B by source of
information. The fourth objective under Goal B was moved to Goal C and reworked to
emphasize cosponsoring and participating in community events. Goldbeck suggested a
parallel objective of holding AHRC-specific events, and the Commissions also
concurred that an objective related to building relationships and contacts with
community partners would be desirable. There was discussion about changes to Goal
A, as many did not feel that “advocacy” was the best descriptor for the actions it was
intended to capture. Emphasis was placed on the advisory role of the Commission,
making recommendations and relaying resident concerns. Neefus planned to compile a
draft of the new Strategic Plan for review at the next meeting based on the discussion.
Next, Marquez explained that the goal of discussing an elevator pitch for AHRC was to
help the Commissioners put the mission statement into their own words and
communicate a consistent message to the public. Zhu and Suarez Beltran shared their
versions of an elevator pitch, and the rest agreed to revisit the topic at the next meeting
so that everyone could share their versions to learn from each other.
Adjournment
The meeting adjourned at 11:37am.