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HomeMy WebLinkAbout~Master - Ames Human Relations Commission - AHRC Minutes 10-27-2016 M I N U T E S HUMAN RELATIONS COMMISSION October 27, 2016 The regular meeting of the Ames Human Relations Commission was called to order by Chair John Klaus at 5:30 p.m. in Conference Room 235 of Ames City Hall. Members present were Joel Hochstein and Heidi Thompson. Victoria Knight and Amy-Harris-Tehan were absent. Staff members Charles Cychosz and Brian Phillips were also present. 2. PUBLIC FORUM: No one was present for public forum. 3. APPROVAL OF THE SEPTEMBER 16, 2016 AND SEPTEMBER 22, 2016 MINUTES: It was moved by Thompson, seconded by Hochstein to approve the minutes. The motion carried unanimously. 4. DISCUSSION WITH AMES CHIEF OF POLICE CHUCK CYCHOSZ: Chief Cychosz reminded the Commission there were two topics he was asked to discuss: traffic stops and arrest data. He presented an overview of the calls for service to the Police Department, and indicated that there were several high conflict areas, including domestic/family disputes, emotionally disturbed persons, incidents involving drugs, and violent crime. He mentioned that in other Iowa communities, there is an increasing trend of honor violence. Chief Cychosz stated that UNI has a center for the study of immigration which studies this and other topics. He also indicated that there has been a substantial increase in the contacts with individuals who have a mental illness. Chief Cychosz discussed traffic stops, indicating that forums have been held with the local NAACP chapter explaining what officers see during traffic stops. He discussed the procedures affiliated with traffic stops and explained some of the limitations of traffic stop data when considering racial disparity. He then provided statistics regarding those stopped by Ames police. Chief Cychosz provided an overview of arrest data, which indicated that African -Americans comprised 15.6% of arrests in 2015. He indicated there were some situations where state law requires an arrest to be made, and others where the officer has discretion to make an arrest or issue a citation. Chief Cychosz explained the recruitment process for hiring new police officers, and indicated that a recruitment was currently underway. He asked the Commissioners to pass along recruitment information to potential candidates. 5. TRADITIONAL AND SOCIAL MEDIA UPDATES: Joel described the racist posters that had been posted around the ISU campus overnight and reported in the media. Heidi mentioned a program sent out by the Library, which involved a book study discussion. She suggested this may be an activity AHRC wants to be a part of. The Commission discussed whether to respond to the racist flyers on the ISU campus via a letter to the editor or press release. Heidi suggested the Commission should research this issue and determine if it is appropriate to hold a special meeting to determine whether to respond. Joel expressed that 30 days of silence form the Commission said something. It was moved by Thompson, seconded by Hochstein to hold a phone meeting a week from Friday to discuss a response to the flyers. Commissioners are to research the issue and develop options for a response, including written or verbal responses. Motion carried unanimously. 6. FOLLOW-UP FROM OCTOBER WORKSHOPS: John reported that 15 people attended the Ames Public Library session and 40 people attended the session at the Memorial Union. He felt the sessions were successful. Heidi asked if the discussion yielded a particular area the Commission should focus on. John indicated there was not a critical area in need of the Commission’s attention. He suggested the next event should be less legalistic, and more culturally focused and engaging. 7. HOUSING FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS: Brian reminded the Commission that Raghul had raised this issue when he was on the Commission at the last meeting. Brian mentioned this issue was also raised at the joint City Council, ISU Student Government meeting a few weeks ago. John asked for more information about the scope of the issue. Brian indicated he would send out the meeting minutes from the joint City Council/Student Government meeting. John stated he would review those and invite the affected person to come to a Human Relations Commission meeting. 8. AHRC BOOKMARK: John expressed that he felt the bookmark was already acceptable. Heidi suggested that the Commission should hold off on altering it until we get a better idea of what the Commission is doing. 9. DISCUSSION OF REMOVAL OF LOCAL INVESTIGATING RESPONSIBILITIES: Heidi asked whether the Commission should postpone this discussion. She asked for more information about which cities have Commissions but do not have investigations. She also asked how the Commission could get back information from the state about local complaints to know what the issues are. 10. TIME AND DATE OF NEXT REGULAR MEETING: November 17, 2016 at 5:30 p.m. 11. COMMISSIONER COMMENTS: Heidi mentioned that at a previous meeting, the Commission had discussed inviting a representative of the Ames Progressive Alliance. She stated that she could contact APA to have a rep present for the next meeting for a discussion about potential partnerships. It was mentioned that the Humanitarian Award nomination form needs to be on the next agenda for approval so it may be posted and applications reviewed at the meeting in December. Planning for the Commission’s role in the MLK Celebration also needs to be on the next agenda. It was moved by Klaus, seconded by Hochstein to nominate Heidi Thompson to be the liaison between the Commission and the Library for the Ta-Nahisi Coates discussion. Motion carried unanimously. John stated he would be going on KHOI radio the following morning to talk about the seminars the Commission had hosted. 12. ADJOURN: Commissioner Thompson moved to adjourn the meeting. The meeting adjourned at 8:06 p.m.