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HomeMy WebLinkAbout~Master - Ames Human Relations Commission - AHRC Minutes 11-17-2016 M I N U T E S HUMAN RELATIONS COMMISSION November 17, 2016 The regular meeting of the Ames Human Relations Commission was called to order by Acting Chair Heidi Thompson at 5:34 p.m. in Conference Room 235 of Ames City Hall. Members present were Joel Hochstein and Victoria Knight. John Klaus and Amy-Harris-Tehan were absent. Staff member Brian Phillips was also present. 2. PUBLIC FORUM: Approximately 20 members of the public were present and introduced themselves. Amy Harris-Tehan arrived at 5:37 p.m. 3. APPROVAL OF THE OCTOBER 27, 2016, AND NOVEMBER 4, 2016 MINUTES: Heidi raised that for the October 27th meeting, Joel had raised the issue of how there are organizations that rate how municipalities provide inclusive services, and that in not having authority to investigate locally, it may cause the City to rate lower on those metrics. Heidi requested that this point be reflected in the minutes. It was moved by Hochstein, seconded by Harris-Tehan to approve the minutes from October 27, 2016. The motion carried unanimously. It was moved by Hochstein, seconded by Harris-Tehan to approve the minutes from November 4, 2016. The motion carried unanimously. 4. DISCUSSION OF POTENTIAL PARTNERSHIPS WITH AMES PROGRESSIVE ALLIANCE: A representative of the Ames Progressive Alliance (APA) reported on the conversation that took place in collaboration with the Body of Christ Church. Matthew Goodman indicated this is a difficult time right now. The Ames Progressive Alliance would like to partner with the Commission to do more. The concept of “sanctuary city” was explained, wherein the City would take a stand against local authorities participating in activities to deport individuals. Examples of other cities that have taken a stance of being a “sanctuary city” were shared. It was suggested that the Commission use its influence to encourage this to happen in Ames. Amy indicated she received from Anne Kinzel a list of activities the Commission could undertake to show support for marginalized groups. She suggested it was important to send a message that everyone in the community is welcomed, and asked the APA for suggestions it may have about such activities. Matthew Goodman indicated the APA will host an event on November 29 from 6-8 p.m. at the Ames Public Library in collaboration with a variety of organizations. The intent is to get different groups together to talk about their perspectives and identify solutions. Matthew described how the APA event with the Body of Christ Church came together. Following that event, a letter was sent to the City about the Human Relations Commission carrying these kinds of discussions forward into the future. The group discussed the importance of not isolating any group, regardless of whether we disagree with their views. Heidi asked whether the APA’s upcoming event was to address the discord in the wake of the election, or was it to address other issues that had taken place prior to the election. Amy mentioned she was at the meeting yesterday at ISU in response to the posters on campus. She said a University staff person expressed the importance of addressing the bigger picture instead of specific incidents, like the posters. Joel indicated that focusing on the free speech aspect of the issue was a losing battle, but a winning battle was engaging in discussion about how these incidents impact the climate. Matthew Goodman invited the AHRC to come to the event November 29. Amy asked how the event will be marketed and how the Commission could help. Matthew indicated there is a list, but the APA would like to add more names to the list. Amy asked if the APA would share its list with the Commission so lists could be compared and the gaps could be filled. Matthew also asked if the Human Relations Commission wanted to partner with the APA for the event. Heidi asked what partnering would entail. Matthew stated i t would involve being present and issuing a press release. Amy indicated one aspect of the partnership could be taking on the governmental recommendations that APA had brought up and steering those. Heidi suggested that at the end of the event, having some list of action items to take forward. Amy suggested that following up with the attendees as to what action was taken on those items would be important. It was moved by Amy, seconded by Joel, to partner with the APA on the event November 29, including promoting and following up with action items. Motion carried unanimously. Heidi mentioned the Chief of Police was present at the last Commission meeting to share information about traffic stops. She suggested following up with him to set up some sort of public discussion about this information. Matthew indicated that there are differences between traffic stops, arrests, and contacts with the police. He hears about negative contacts with the police that aren’t logged. Joel suggested that once the APA talks with Chief Cychosz, it should contact the Commission if it needs help setting up a community discussion. Matthew raised the question of how to approach the cultural sensitivity of City staff. Brian indicated that would be a personnel policy question that should be brought up with the City Council, and the City Council could direct that staff investigate this. Others raised the question about how to get others in the community, neighbors, into the conversation. Heidi asked whether the Commission should wait until after the event on November 29 to identify points that are raised there and figure out how to move forward. Amy expressed that once the event happens, the Commission must be in a position to act on it. It was moved by Amy, seconded by Joel to hold an additional meeting the week after the event on November 29 to discuss next steps. The motion carried unanimously. Matthew asked whether what the APA was working towards sounded appropriate or whether it was uncomfortable and foreign. Several individuals expressed support for the ideas being put forth. Amy asked if it was possible to create an AHRC email address. Brian said it could be done. Joel offered to be the main point of contact from AHRC for the APA’s event. At Joel’s inquiry, Matthew indicated it would be great if the City would put out a press release on its letterhead about it. Amy asked if Brian could send the AHRC logo to APA for use on the publicity for the event. Joel expressed interest in creating an inclusive Ames series. He suggested it would be a good way for AHRC to engage in the community and hear from people. Victoria agreed with that notion. 5. FOLLOW-UP FROM AHRC STATEMENT ON RACIST FLIERS ON ISU CAMPUS: Amy provided an update that she learned use of the university’s email delivery system was not possible since the Commission was external to the University. Joel asked what the metrics were It was moved by Amy and seconded by Joel that Amy would develop a draft statement about encouraging people to come to the Commission with information about any experiences with hate. The motion carried unanimously. It was clarified that the statement could be approved at the December 8 special meeting. Joel expressed that it was incredibly affirming to have a room full of people at the meeting. 6. APPROVAL OF HUMANITARIAN AWARD APPLICATION: Amy suggested the APA be forwarded the application, and that it also be posted on Facebook. Heidi raised that John had stated the Commission’s contact list was not appropriate for some uses. Amy said she understood some of those concerns. Suggestions were made to change diversity, fairness, and equality to diversity, inclusion, equity and to address formatting issues. It was moved by Joel, seconded by Amy, to approve as amended, and to have it converted to a fillable PDF and posted online. The motion carried unanimously. Joel stated he would be happy to send the application out to the Commission mailing list. 7. PLANNING FOR MLK CELEBRATION: Victoria suggested that she would be the point of contact if John has not already done so with regard to the MLK Celebration Planning Committee. It was moved by Amy, seconded by Joel to authorize funding for the cake and Humanitarian Award expenses. Motion carried unanimously. 8. LOCAL INVESTIGATING RESPONSIBILITIES: Amy suggested postponing this discussion until a later meeting. It was moved by Amy, seconded by Joel to table this discussion to the December regular meeting. Motion carried unanimously. 9. TIME AND DATE OF NEXT REGULAR MEETING: December 29, 2016 at 5:30 p.m. 10. COMMISSIONER COMMENTS: Joel suggested that meeting more frequently than once a month may be needed. He also suggested there may be a need to discuss the Commission structure. It was moved by Amy, seconded by Victoria, that the December 8 special meeting agenda include: Follow-up from the Inclusive Ames Event, Discussion of Commission Structure, and Community Education Programming, and the December 22 regular meeting agenda include: Update on MLK Celebration, Local Investigating Responsibilities, Approve Humanitarian Award Recipient. The motion carried unanimously. It was moved by Joel, seconded by Heidi, to move the regularly scheduled meeting from December 22 to December 29. The motion carried unanimously. 11. ADJOURN: Joel moved to adjourn the meeting. The meeting adjourned at 7:21 p.m.