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HomeMy WebLinkAbout~Master - Ames Human Relations Commission - AHRC Minutes 3-24-2016M I N U T E S HUMAN RELATIONS COMMISSION March 24, 2016 The regular meeting of the Ames Human Relations Commission was called to order by Chair at 6:24 p.m. in Conference Room 235 of Ames City Hall. Members present were John Klaus, Raghul Ethiraj, and Heidi Thompson. Amy Juhnke and Mary Beth Oostenbrug were absent. Staff member Brian Phillips was also present. Commission Investigator Amanda Hassid was also present. PUBLIC FORUM There was no one present for Public Forum. OLD BUSINESS A. APPROVAL OF FEBRUARY 25, 2016 MINUTES: It was moved by Thompson, seconded by Ethiraj to approve the minutes. The motion carried unanimously. B. FAIR HOUSING MONTH / A HOME FOR EVERYONE AWARD / FOCUS GROUP / ADVERTISING: John has spoken to Vanessa Baker-Latimer and does not believe there are any plans for Fair Housing Month. She is waiting to hear from the Omaha office of HUD about ten days ago. Moved by Thompson, seconded by Ethiraj to allocate $300 from Commission funding to support advertising for Fair Housing Month. John asked that Brian have Vanessa email the Commission with the details of Fair Housing Month and asked that Brian check with the Mayor about awarding the Home for Everyone Award at the City Council meeting. The discussion turned to the nomination of Jennifer Ellis for the Home for Everyone Award. John indicated he felt it was appropriate to award it to her. Moved by Klaus, seconded by Ethiraj to award the Home For Everyone Award to Jennifer Ellis. Motion carried unanimously. Moved by Ethiraj, seconded by Thompson to authorize up to $100 from the Commission’s budget for the award plaque. Motion carried unanimously. Brian reported Amy’s email regarding the focus groups. Heidi and John will facilitate the focus group on a weeknight that Heidi will arrange to follow Food at First. Raghul and Amy will arrange a focus group for the Library on a weekend night. Amy will work with Susan Gwiasda to draft a press release for both events. Heidi will report back to Amy with these decisions. Heidi provided the questions for the focus groups, which the Commissioners indicated they agreed with. Moved by Ethiraj, seconded by Thompson, to consider holding a third focus group session at ISU in the same time frame as the other two meetings. Motion carried unanimously. Raghul agreed to coordinate this session. C. REVIEW OF THE WEBSITE, LITERATURE, AND OTHER COMMISSION PROMOTION MATERIALS: John indicated he felt the Commission was deficient in materials. Raghul indicated the Commission’s brochure is on the website. Raghul is happy with the website. John suggested focusing efforts on printing a stock of brochures for events. Moved by Ethiraj, seconded by Thompson, to allocate up to $200 to print new brochures. Motion carried unanimously. Brian will contact the City’s print shop to have the current brochure colorized and printed. Raghul will approve the proof before it is printed. NEW BUSINESS ANNUAL REPORT PLANNING: Moved by Ethiraj, seconded by Thompson to assign sections for the annual report as follows: Strategic Plan – All A Home for Everyone Award – Raghul MLK/Humanitarian Award – Amy Focus Groups – Heidi Iowa Civil Rights Symposium - John TIME AND DATE OF NEXT REGULAR MEETING: April 28, 2016 at 6:00 p.m. COMMISSIONER COMMENTS – There were no comments. ADJOURN: Commissioner Thompson moved to adjourn the meeting. The meeting adjourned at 6:57 p.m.