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HomeMy WebLinkAbout~Master - Ames Human Relations Commission Minutes September 17, 20261 MINUTES AMES HUMAN RELATIONS COMMISSION Conference Room 235 City Hall, 515 Clark Avenue September 17, 2026 Call to Order Chair Annabella Marquez called the meeting of the Ames Human Relations Commission (AHRC) to order at 6:01 p.m. In attendance were Staff Liaison Eames and Commissioners Marquez, Suarez, Nolin, Kenny, and Bailey. Joined virtually was Commissioner Mock. Commissioner Zhu was absent. Public Forum No one was present for the public forum. Approval of Minutes Commissioner Bailey mentioned her name was wrong. Marquez made a motion to amend the minutes and correct Bailey’s name. Bailey seconded the motion to correct her name and to approve the August 27, 2026 minutes. Vote on Motion:6-0. Motion carried unanimously. Appointment of Positions The commissioners had a discussion on what types of positions would assist their efforts in planning and outreach. Commissioner Kenny will continue to lead the Sign-Up Genius and volunteered to be the treasurer. Mock volunteered to be the secretary and to take minutes at each meeting; Marquez and Nolin are backups. Bailey volunteered for the public relations role and will be in charge of the quarterly newsletter. Budget Update Eames discussed a $500 reimbursement from the Iowa Office of Civil Rights for the intake of two discrimination complaints in FY 25-26. This amount can be used by the AHRC for ongoing line items in the budget. Eames asked commissioners to discuss if the budget for FY 26 -27 needs to be adjusted since it is budget season and Eames will meet with Finance at the end of the month. 2 Kenny motioned to keep this fiscal year as is. They do not foresee needing additional funds. Mock seconded the motion and all voted to keep the budget as is for this fiscal year. Vote on motion: 6-0. Motion carried unanimously. The discussion for the FY 27-28 highlighted the coloring book giveaways. The AHRC will have to start paying for printing services starting this fiscal year. There is currently enough in the budget for this fiscal year, but will need to request $660 for F Y 27-28 to print 500 coloring books. Katlyn motioned to increase the budget by $660 for coloring books in FY 27-28, Suarez seconded the motion. Vote on motion: 6-0. Motion carried unanimously. There is a line item that is currently in red because Eames received an estimate from an outside printing company of $96 for 500 coloring books. Once the invoice was received it was $665. Eames reached out and the printing place acknowledged the error and will be sending a check for the difference. This means there is enough money in the budget this year for coloring books. Review of Past Business: • Commissioner’s elevator pitch-The purpose of this line item is to ensure all commissioners are consistent and aligned with their messaging as they continue to do outreach in the community. This topic has been brought up in different meetings and the overall goal is to share the same message in your own words, to ensure the community knows why they would reach out to you and how. Kenny mentioned it would be helpful to have a “Ask Us About” poster at the table with items for the community to easily start a conversation. Eames will ask Courtney to create this for the last Road Trip stop, including a QR code for the Humanitarian Award so community members are aware this is open and start the conversation with commissioners. Mock presented the topic of how else the commission can engage community members and brought up games/activities. This lead into a conversation about visuals, banners, tablecloths. Kenny asked if this should be worked through a regular meeting and Mock suggested the creating of a subcommittee: the Creative Outreach Subcommittee. Mock, Nolin and Marquez volunteered to be a part of this. This prompted the creation of a Coloring Book Subcommittee. Suarez and Mock volunteered to lead this. Before ending this discussion Eames clarified that the elevator pitch was never meant to be something rehearsed or memorized but a succinct way of explaining to community members who the AHRC is. In addition, Eames mentioned that commissioners should be creating 3 connections and networking in the community. Inviting local groups/organizations to present at our monthly meetings and vice versa, commissions can attend an organization’s meeting and bring back the highlights. There are opportunities to find the areas in which the AHRC aligns with other groups and create collaborations. Annual Report Eames added a paragraph in the report on the work the AHRC did on the topic of gender identity. In addition, Eames and Assistant City Manager Vang-Goldbeck talked about reimagining how the AHRC presents to Council and the timeline. Since the AHRC is still waiting on data from the IOCR, ISU, and we are now halfway through 2026, the question is, does the AHRC want to wait till January 2027 to start asking for 2026 data and present to Council on 2025-2026? Commissioners agreed to wait to present in early 2027. Suarez suggested that commissioners create a one-slide with main bullet points of each event the AHRC attends and add these to the presentation for Council. ISU Civil Rights Complaints No need for an update. This data will be requested in early January of 2027. Newsletter Update Marquez updated the newsletter, and Eames will send it to communications staff to help with formatting and accessibility. Marquez moved to approve the newsletter; Kenny seconded. Vote on Motion 6-0. Motion carried unanimously. Upcoming Events: • Neighborhood Connections at Roosevelt Park, September 23 - Sarah point person • Pridefest October 10- Pablo point person o Eames registered the AHRC for a table • ISU and AHRC: Cultural Festival 2027 Update o Eames and Bailey both reached out to ISU Student Government for an update. Eames asked Bailey if she could stay in contact with them and invite them to an AHRC meeting so we can formally start planning. Commission Announcements Marquez updated the commission on local HRC’s virtual meeting. Local organizations are planning “Know your rights” events and collaborating. WSDM is hosting an MLK Celebration Day. DSM Commission is considering a “Human Rights Day” on December 4 10th. Possibly a Proclamation on awareness of genocide. There will be another statewide conversation with local HRC’s after the November election. Next Meeting: October 22, 2026 Adjournment The meeting adjourned at 7:47 p.m.