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HomeMy WebLinkAbout~Master - Ames Human Relations Commission - AHRC Minutes 9-22-2016 M I N U T E S HUMAN RELATIONS COMMISSION September 22, 2016 The regular meeting of the Ames Human Relations Commission was called to order by Chair John Klaus at 5:36 p.m. in Conference Room 235 of Ames City Hall. Members present were Raghul Ethiraj and Amy Harris-Tehan. Heidi Thompson was absent. Staff member Brian Phillips was also present. 2. PUBLIC FORUM: Richard Deyoe asked that he be allowed to make his comments during Commissioner Comments. John responded that the Commissioner Comments is for Commissioners and Public Forum is for the public, and asked for a reason to allow him to speak during Commissioner Comments. Richard indicated he would like to sit through the meeting before making his comments. 3. APPROVAL OF THE AUGUST 25, 2016 MINUTES: It was moved by Harris-Tehan, seconded by Klaus to amend the minutes to reflect that Raghul arrived late, but was not absent. Motion carried unanimously. Moved by Harris-Tehan, seconded by Klaus to approve the minutes. The motion carried unanimously. 4. APPROVAL OF THE SEPTEMBER 8, 2016 MINUTES: It was moved by Ethiraj, seconded by Harris-Tehan to approve the minutes. The motion carried unanimously. 5. DISCUSSION WITH AMES CHIEF OF POLICE CHUCK CYCHOSZ: It appeared that Chief Cychosz had been given a different date for the Commission meeting. It was moved by Klaus, seconded by Harris-Tehan, to invite the Chief to attend the October Commission meeting. Motion carried unanimously. 6. LEAGUE OF IOWA HUMAN AND CIVIL RIGHTS AGENCIES YEARLY MEMBERSHIP RENEWAL: The Commission discussed the activities the League conducts. It was moved by Harris-Tehan, seconded by Ethiraj to renew the Commission’s membership in the League of Iowa Human and Civil Rights Agencies. Motion carried unanimously. 7. TRADITIONAL AND SOCIAL MEDIA UPDATES: Amy provided an update on the Facebook initiative. She reported that the FACES page has been converted to the Commission’s page, so there are some followers. She expressed a desire to keep the page active. Raghul asked if the Commission was taking pictures at events. Raghul reported that he had read that the campus preacher had shown up again. John expressed that the antidote for hateful speech is more speech. Amy offered that she could take a stack of Commission brochures and go hand them out when he is there. Raghul proposed collaborating with other organizations that speak out against him. Amy asked that this item be placed on the December Commission agenda. Moved by Klaus, seconded by Harris-Tehan, to place the topic of responding to preaching in favor of prohibited practices on the December agenda. Motion carried unanimously. 8. HOUSING FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS: Raghul stated that a meeting occurred last Thursday with the student advisory board. It was in favor of holding a forum. He also reached out to Student Government and International Student Council. Both groups will discuss in their next meetings and will report back with their interest and ideas to address this. 9. COMMUNITY CONVERSATIONS SERIES: Because Heidi was absent, there was no update on this topic. 10. BROWN BAG WORKSHOPS: Raghul indicated that the space at ISU is secured. The space equipment has been arranged. The event date is the 17th. John summarized that the task to be completed is getting the room at the Library arranged. Raghul indicated that he needs to email the information to Brian to get flyers designed and printed. John expressed a desire to do a mailing. The Commission discussed emailing the flyer to its mailing list. Amy offered to put some flyers at businesses. Raghul and John will attend the ISU Student Government Senate meeting next Wednesday to speak at open forum about the event. 11. ICRC CIVIL RIGHTS SYMPOSIUM – OCTOBER 28: Moved by Harris-Tehan, seconded by Klaus that the Commission authorize funding from the Commission’s budget for up to four Commissioners, Investigators, and/or Hearing Officers to attend the conference. Motion carried unanimously. Amy will get back to Brian with whether she can attend. 12. REVIEW AHRC BOOKMARK: John proposed that the bookmark include information about how the Commission provides educational information. Raghul stated that there is not enough room to add information. Moved by Harris-Tehan, seconded by Ethiraj to put the bookmark content on the agenda for the October meeting. Motion carried unanimously. 13. WORKSHARING AGREEMENT WITH IOWA CIVIL RIGHTS COMMISSION: Moved by Harris-Tehan, seconded by Ethiraj to recommend this agreement be submitted to the City Council for approval. Motion carried unanimously. John suggested that someday, the Commission should consider amending the Municipal Code to remove the need to appoint volunteer investigators and hearing officers. Amy agreed with this and felt strongly that this should be a discussion on the October agenda. Moved by Harris-Tehan, seconded by Ethiraj, that on the October agenda, a discussion be added to study the possible amending of the Municipal Code to remove investigating responsibilities. Motion carried unanimously. 14. TIME AND DATE OF NEXT REGULAR MEETING: October 27, 2016 at 5:30 p.m. 15. COMMISSIONER COMMENTS: Raghul mentioned that the Know Your Rights seminar may be confusing, and perhaps should be clarified to be Know Your Civil Rights. Amy reminded the Commissioners that there were assignments to reach out to other organizations. She and Raghul have reached out to their organizations. She was not sure how far John and Heidi have gotten. John needs to go out to the list and pick an organization to reach out to. John offered Richard an opportunity to speak. Richard spoke about his father. He expressed discontent with the law that requires people to be clothed in public. ADJOURN: Commissioner Ethiraj moved to adjourn the meeting. The meeting adjourned at 6:37 p.m.