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HomeMy WebLinkAbout~Master - Ames Human Relations Commission - AHRC Minutes 12-8-2016M I N U T E S HUMAN RELATIONS COMMISSION December 8, 2016 A special work meeting of the Ames Human Relations Commission was called to order by Chair John Klaus at 5:30 p.m. in room 135 of City Hall. The meeting room was modified to accommodate another meeting; signs identifying the change in location were posted. Members present were John Klaus, Victoria Knight, and Joel Hochstein, Heidi Thompson, and Amy Tehan. Dan Kuecker, an Ames Investigation and Conciliation Officer was present. Staff member Brian Phillips was absent. Ten community members were present including one person from the Ames Tribune and one from KHOI. PUBLIC FORUM Public and Commissioners introduced themselves. Richard Dezco requested that he be allowed comment during the Commissioner Forum. OLD BUSINESS A. NOVEMBER 17, 2016 MINUTES: Will be reviewed for approval at the December 29th meeting. B. CHAMBER of COMMERCE REQUEST for CULTURAL DIVERSITY TRAINING: Heidi reported that in response to a request to determine the best way to share fliers and communicate activities that the Ames Human Relation Commission is planning Jan Wells from the Chamber expressed interest in having the Commission host a lunch-in-learn in March on Cultural sensitivity in the work-place. This fit well with the discussion form the November 17th meeting in regard to developing training on cultural sensitivity training for the community based on one of the Ames Progressive Alliance (APA) meeting identifying public concerns related to lack of cultural awareness and sensitivity. Victoria recommended contacting Margo Foreman, ISU’s Director of Equal Opportunity to identify if she has resources or recommendations for speakers. Joel identified that the University also has several Intergroup Dialogues that are active and they may also have recommendations. Heidi will follow-up on this with Jan and investigate possible speakers. It was moved by Amy, seconded by Victoria that the Commission follow-up with the Chamber on a Cultural Diversity lunch-n-learn program. The motion carried unanimously. C. LIBRARY PROGRAM TALK RACE: In conjunction with the Chamber Education request, Heidi followed up with information on TALK RACE, the Library’s panel book discussion based on Ta-Nehesi Coates that was discussed at the November 17 meeting. Mary Logsdon is still interested in AHRC partnering on publicity and planning. She has not identified when meetings will be. A flier was distributed and will be emailed to Commissioners. Nicci Port was present, from ISU and has been assisting Mary in organizing the panel, she shared additional information with the Commissioners. January 28th is the Talk Race program and will be a warm-up for Ta-Nehisi Coates presentation on 1/30 at 7 p.m. at ISU. A panel discussion and luncheon is being planned at noon on the 28th. the Library is working to see if Dr. Stewart, from ISU would be available for the Keynote. This would be followed by a teen book discussion with Kekla Magoon. No action required. Follow-up December 29 as additional information is available. D. FOLLOW-UP FROM THE INCLUSIVE AMES EVENT: Amy, Joel and Victoria were able to attend the event and reviewed the APA Inclusive Action Ames recommendations that were distributed yesterday. Joel reported over 300 people attended and 80-85 people were relocated to the basement of the Elks lodge to accommodate the large group. I was a good start to developing community discussions. Amy reported that she went through the report to identify items that may be appropriate for Commission involvement. These include: 1. Establishing a database or place to report witnessed events – ‘this happened…’- web form or place that an individual can anonymously report bullying, hate or discrimination types of comments or activities. This would assist Commissioners with greater insight into community concerns and discriminatory acts. 2. Community training for intervention for people experiencing bullying, or hate. De- escalation bystander training. Offer training to speak up or assist others when verbal attacks occur and context-sensitive bystander intervention. This would allow the Commission to assist others to do something that can make a difference. This also coincided with a Facebook comment that Brian emailed yesterday wanting to know if Faces could be restored into some type of Veisha like event but raising more awareness in relation to cultural issues. a. John commented that the history of Faces was initially a focus on multiculturalism in the face of diversity; however it transitioned into a bazaar type event without a real focus or message which was why it was disbanded. b. Heidi commented that prior Commissioners had indicated that IRIS Peace walk was trying to develop into an alternative to FACES. 3. Create a specific purposeful gathering space in community, block parties. Victoria shared that these should be intentional to bridge the gap on sensitive subjects. Amy identified exploring the possibilities of events over the summer, sharing cultural events over the summer, explore cultures and food. 4. Sanctuary City - stand up for Citizens, represent or encourage multiple parties –the police, ISU, City Council. 5. Student involvement in the Commission, engage Jr. High and High School members as a great opportunity to develop future Commissioners and leaders. 6. City Council to develop an Intolerance Manifesto. 7. Request the City to review all city publications for nondiscrimination language Amy moved that the Commission create a subcommittee to establish targeted goals in relation to the APA action items. Victoria seconded, unanimously approved. Additional discussion: Tracy Gail, asked if the APA would be sending this report out to attendees of inclusive Ames. Joel thought that this was being planned, but the Commission was unable to speak on behalf of the APA. John moved to create a Commission subcommittee to address these issuses –Victoria, Amy, and Joel volunteered to participate. Motion seconded by Joel, unanimously approved. Discussion: Heidi asked if we should consider asking members of the public if they are interested in participating on the subcommittee in response to individuals expressing interest in being more involved at last month’s meeting and the presence of more people at this meeting. A contact sheet was distributed for individuals to be contacted if they would like to assist in forming the Inclusive Ames Action goals for the AHRC. Heidi noted that the report also identified several comments around “Ask members of all the vulnerable groups identified what their critical needs are — their top priorities for advocates to organize around” and asked if the subcommittee would include this as a target area also. It was an area that was identified in the Commission’s Strategic Plan and would help ensure the Commission is targeting community needs. The subcommittee will be responsible for setting up meetings in accordance with the Public Meetings law, organizing the agenda, meeting space and notifying interested community members. E. CLARIFICATION REGARDING the AHRC Email ADDRESS: Amy reported that initial discussion have been made in regard to the AHRC having an email that issues can be sent to as well as nomination forms and a genera incident reporting area. Issues regarding how this might be set up and responses coordinated were discussed. Victoria will discuss with Cathy Gersema logistics and issues related to creating a mailbox on the City website. John moved for Victoria to investigate mailbox setup and report back. Motion seconded by Heidi, unanimously approved. F. COMMISSIONER COMMENTS: 1. John was able to connect with the Executive Director of the Iowa Civil Rights Commission, Kristin Johnson relative to complaints received in 2016. There were more complaints than he anticipated. Also, as requested, information is provided with respect to training for the volunteer investigators. This is a summary of his report and email from Kristin: We have a presentation that I think would be helpful for your volunteer investigators. We would request a fee of $250 for 1.5 hours or $300 for 2 hours for the training session. Also, here is the data for Ames complaints in FY 16: Number of complaints (not investigated locally) 23 Employment complaints 19 Public Accommodation 1 Housing 3 Complaints asserting Race as a basis 7 Complaints asserting color as a basis 2 Complaints asserting age as a basis 12 Complaints asserting disability as a basis 7 Complaints asserting retaliation 5 Because numerous complaints assert more than one basis for alleged discrimination, the numbers of complaints by basis will not equal the total number of complaints. We (ICRC) send our mediators to a week-long mediator training course given at Drake University’s Legal Clinic by Dick Calkins, of the Calkins Institute for Mediation. Then they go through on-the-job shadowing of experienced mediators and are shadowed for mediation before going solo. Heidi questioned what the training requirements are in terms of content or time. John and Amy were not aware that there are any. Heidi reviewed Brian’s email from August 29 indicating that “Most, if not all of our investigators have not had formal training in completing the complaint process. Most of the Commissioners are similarly situated when it comes to complaint resolution training." John thought in the past the City Attorney provided an Orientation to the Investigators and was not aware of specific training requirements. Heidi requested John to obtain the prior two years complaint records and recognized his success in obtaining this information so efficiently. Three years will better allow the Commission to evaluate if there are any trends or areas to focus on. Heidi will follow-up with Brian and this should be a December 29 agenda item as planned in November. 2. John reported the Martin Luther King Birthday Planning is underway; Victoria will attend the next meeting. 3. Humanitarian Award requests for nominees have been sent out. The deadline is December 16, it is not known if any applications have been received. Joel mailed to the list serve in the excel file, however it was identified that several email addresses were no longer valid. Amy will post the award announcement on Ames people, Joel will distribute to the APA, Nicci Port will forward it to Iowa State, and Ursula Ruddenburg will announce it on KHOI. Victoria is checking on costs related to the medal. 4. Heidi reported that Raghul had shared our contacts with Marina who oversees the Guest Lectures for International Students and would like to have the Commission participate again next semester. Heidi will follow-up with her. 5. George Belistos contacted John in regard to the Ames Refugee Alliance, a group planning an event in April. John Burke is coordinating this and wanted to know if it was possible the AHRC would like to be involved. Amy will contact John to identify when meetings are – add to December 29th agenda. 6. Amy drafted an AHRC Statement Requesting Reports on discriminatory practices; this was distributed for members to be review and will be added to the December 29th agenda. 7. Richard Dezco commented that he would like for everyone to be considered and would offer opportunities to follow him, or him to follow others. 8. Ursula Freudenberg that the Board of directors of KHOI was interested in how KHOI may further partner with AHRC. John expressed that this would be a good opportunity to work with Ames media to educate ourselves and the community with concerns related to discrimination. Ursula reported she has two suggestions for partnership projects: a. KHOI would like to work with AHRC to create a platform for regular communication through a regular time slot on the air with topics such as How do you make a Complaint, How do you act as a Bystander, she would like to see weekly one hour spots and would help to develop the program. b. She has spoken at length with Main Street Cultural District organizers of the 4th of July parade. She said feedback was identified that this could be a more substantive event and an excellent opportunity partner with a City organization such as the AHRC to show case the diversity of this community and the many cultures. One comment was related to the lack of interaction and music and the need to create more activity around the parade and throughout the year in a way that could bring people together. In discussing this with other people suggestions were made to plan a band/ bands for the parade and celebrate networking between different groups, i.e. form groups who may not connect with each other Eastwood children pots and pans band, a Radio band. It was discussed that this would be a good strategy for the subcommittee and Ursula agreed to join this group. c. KHOI partnership will be added to the December 29th meeting. 9. Joel identified that there are two interest groups forming to advance LGTB issues and exploring a Pride parade. They may have action items to bring to AHRC and or City Council. 10. Joel would also like to have continued Community Conversations Series, which was discussed as a strategy in the Plan – this will be addressed by the subcommittee. 11. Joel reported that the Commission should consider outreach to the Islamic Mosque, initially a report was made that a letter was not sent to the Imam, however it had been but he had not been made aware of the letter. Dan Mika, from the Ames Tribune shared part of this information based on an interview he had completed with the Imam. John offered to reach out to the Imam on behalf of the Commission to understand their concerns and offer support. If more urgent action is needed, John will establish an additional Commission meeting, if not follow-up will be at the December 29th meeting. Ursula suggested doing a broadcast with the Imam next week but it was explained that until the needs of the Islamic community were identified the Commission could not act on that or meet again without establishing a follow-up meeting. She is welcome to contact John for any additional comments. ADJOURN: Commissioner Hochstein moved to adjourn the meeting. The meeting adjourned at 6:58 p.m. Minutes submitted by Heidi Thompson