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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1995 01-11 HRRMMINUTES OF THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE • HUMAN RIGHTS AND RESOURCES COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF BROOKLYN CENTER IN THE COUNTY OF HENNEPIN AND THE STATE OF MINNESOTA C SESSION JANUARY 11, 1995 CITY HALL CALL TO ORDER The Brooklyn Center human rights and resources commission was called to order at 7:07 PM. ROLL CALL Members Present: Commissioners Achtelik, Brown, Lerbs and Nesseth. Also present were Mayor Kragness, Council Liaison Hilstrom, and Staff Liaison Gohman, recording secretary. Members Absent and Unexcused: Vice Chairperson Henry and Commissioner Maddox. Since Vice Chairperson Henry was not present and the chairperson position was vacant, it was the consensus of the commission to allow Commissioner Brown to chair the meeting at this time. • APPROVAL OF MINUTES NOVEMBER 30. 1994 There was general discussion about the November 30 minutes prior to approval. The discussion centered on the question of why the city manager did not recommend CEAP be funded by the City of Brooklyn Center. Commission Achtelik stated she was concerned and questioned why we go through all the preparation regarding the interviewing and analysis of the service contract requests if it is not used in the budget. Staff Liaison Gohman stated that this was the city manager's recommendation to the city council regarding the budget, and she wanted the commission to understand that the city manager's recommendation differed from the ranking of the human rights and resources commission. Council Liaison Hilstrom stated that it is important in the future to make sure this type of information is pointed out to the council during the budget session. Staff Liaison Gohman agreed and said that Council Liaison Rosene had been involved in the process of contractual services for the 1995 budget. She also noted that input by the HRRC is very valuable and important when the City is looking at analysis of contractual services. Commissioner Nesseth stated that the HRRC understands they are a body that recommends to the city council and theirs was a recommendation only. Commissioner Achtelik feels that CEAP is very valuable to the community as it serves a number of Brooklyn Center residents. There was a motion by Commissioner Nesseth and seconded by Commissioner Lerbs to approve the minutes of the November 30, 1994, special session as submitted. The motion carried. . APPROVAL OF AGENDA - JANUARY 11. 1995 There was discussion to move item number nine, discussion of the HRRC regular meeting times, to before number five on the agenda. 01/11/95 - 1 - There was a motion by Commissioner Lerbs and seconded by Commissioner Achtelik to move number nine before number five on the January 11, 1995, agenda. The motion is carried. DISCUSSION OF REGULAR MEETING TIMES Commissioner Achtelik inquired about regular meetings. Special meetings were called but they were lacking in attendance. Commissioner Achtelik's concern was that special meetings are called but are in conflict with other activities of members so attendance at times may not be possible. Commissioner Nesseth stated she would like to see the commission stick to regular meetings unless special meetings are needed. Commissioner Achtelik stated that's the problem - attendance problems began with the special meetings. Commissioner Brown noted that the commission should hold its regular meetings and form subcommittees to help do the extra work. This might help with attendance problems when special meetings are called. Commissioner Achtelik then asked about how resignations are accepted. Staff Liaison Gohman stated that resignations and the procedure is set by ordinance. Once a resignation is received, the city clerk must publish the vacancy within ten days in the newspaper. Commissioner Achtelik stated she felt that past Chairperson Julie Eoloff resigned because of the letter sent to all commission members regarding attendance. She stated she felt Eoloff should be given a break for three months, to be excused from commission meetings. Commissioner Nesseth stated that maybe Eoloff had made up her mind prior to receiving the letter from the commission. Mayor Kragness said that if past-Chair Eoloff is interested in working on the commission, maybe she should be approached about reapplying by a current member of the commission. Mayor Kragness also stated that her priority as a mayor is to have full commissions, and that • if a member can come back, we could leave a seat open temporarily. But if that person could not come back, it is not in the best interest of the City to leave open spaces on commissions. Commissioner Achtelik noted the letter concerning attendance was mailed to her late, and it was hard to respond when the letter was received after the requested response date. She then stated that she received no call and no agenda in the mail, so how was she to know of the meetings. Commissioner Achtelik also noted she usually attends all meetings; and without an agenda packet and a letter, it is hard to attend meetings as scheduled. Commissioner Brown reported that the topic of calls was discussed at the special meeting; that if staff calls members, they are automatically excused if they are responding to the call about attendance at the upcoming meeting. Commissioner Nesseth stated that Vice Chairperson Henry had called a special meeting to discuss membership on November 30, 1994. Staff Liaison Gohman also brought up the fact that Commissioner Maddox has three unexcused absences and how does the commission want to deal with this issue. Commissioner Brown stated that the commission must remember that she had some problems, trauma, and an accident in the past. Commissioner Nesseth stated that maybe someone active on the commission should contact Maddox and see if she is interested in continuing to serve. Mayor Kragness stated that there are people who have applied for the commission vacancies and, hopefully in February, the council will appoint members to fill vacant seats on all commissions • of the City. Commissioner Brown stated that Commissioner Achtelik will contact Julie Eoloff 01/11/95 -2- to see if she can resume and that she (Commissioner Brown) will do the same with Sherry • Maddox. Commissioner Nesseth asked how are we going to handle this in the future? Commissioner Brown reminded the commission that they have been lenient about absenteeism on the commission in the past. Commissioner Lerbs stated that this was discussed in November. We need to determine what is excused and not excused; look at the situations case-by-case; and contact commission members who are absent, find out what is happening and why they cannot make the meetings. Mayor Kragness noted the commission may want to send a letter after the second unexcused absence and have the commissioner respond in writing or by phone on why they cannot attend the regular commission meetings. Mayor Kragness stated that we need commissions to be active and full and to do work for the City of Brooklyn Center and to work with the council. There was a motion by Commissioner Lerbs and seconded by Commissioner Nesseth to continue regular meetings on the second Wednesday of each month at 7:00 PM and to call special meetings by the chairperson or as voted on by the commission. The motion carried. APPOINTMENT OF CHAIRPERSON The commission discussed the appointment of a chairperson. There was a concern that Vice Chairperson Henry was not present at the meeting to be involved in this discussion. Commissioner Nesseth stated she wanted to appoint a chairperson tonight, and she recommended • Commissioner Lerbs based on his interest in the commission and his procedural and organizational skills. Council Liaison Hilstrom asked if anyone present at the meeting wanted to be chairperson or if anyone had heard of anyone not present who wanted to be chairperson. Commissioner Brown asked if Commissioner Lerbs was willing to serve as the chairperson. Commissioner Lerbs stated yes. Commissioner Nesseth asked if the commission was in agreement on the chairperson. Commissioner Brown stated, "If Commissioner Lerbs is willing, I see my role as support and can bridge the gaps since there are so many new members; there are only two of us who can bring history to the commission." Commissioner Nesseth noted the importance of having a chairperson who knows the bylaws and that's why she chose Commissioner Lerbs. She then asked if Commissioner Brown would be interested in being the chairperson. Commissioner Brown stated she is struggling with involvement and over extending herself; maybe she would not be the chairperson, but maybe the vice chairperson or other role. Commissioner Brown then stated, "If Commissioner Lerbs is willing to chair, I would be willing to be vice chair." There was a motion by Commissioner Nesseth and seconded by Commissioner Brown to appoint Commissioner Wayde Lerbs as chairperson for the human rights and resources commission effective immediately. The motion carried. Chairperson Lerbs stated he would like to have Commissioner Brown be vice chairperson the human rights and resources commission. It was the consensus of the commission to have Commissioner Brown serve as vice chairperson of the human rights and resources commission. 0 O1/11/95 -3 - CERTIFICATES The commission discussed the human rights and resources certificates and asked if they would • be ready to hand out at the joint meeting of all commissions in February. There was general Oiscussion of how these certificates have been used; they were passed out at the Heritage Festival and were a success. It was the consensus of the commission to get the certificates ready with new signatures and have them available for the joint meeting in February. FLYER The commission discussed the handout/flyer made for the human rights and resources commission. Staff Liaison Gohman stated this is only a draft and the commission is to review the flyer and make their comments and changes accordingly. There was general discussion of the handout/flyer and amendments were made. It was the consensus of the commission to amend the flyer, send it to members as soon as possible, and have the members call Chairperson Lerbs with their comments. Chairperson Lerbs will i it i tl its then give authorization to Staff Liaison Gohman to print copies of the flyer once all is in order. There was a motion by Commissioner Brown and seconded by Commissioner Achtelik to amend the flyer/handout and to contact Chairperson Lerbs to give input and to print the flyer as soon as it is approved. The motion carried. WORKPLAN There was general discussion of the list of 22 items on the workplan brainstorming list. Vice Chairperson Brown pointed out that the commission has completed number nine and developed the flyer. She is concerned that we have not responded and implemented a bias response plan under the Northwest Hennepin Human Services Council. Staff Liaison Gohman said NWHHSC is ready and willing to come to the commission to discuss the bias response program and also to talk about cultural diversity training. Chairperson Lerbs stated that NWHHSC should be put on the commission agenda for the April meeting. There was general discussion about the workplan. There was a motion by Commissioner Achtelik and seconded by Commissioner Brown to table the workplan until the March meeting. The motion carried. JOINT MEETING There was general discussion of the joint February meeting which will be at 6:30 PM at the community center. Staff Liaison Gohman reminded the commission that the human rights and resources commission is the host of the joint meeting. There was general discussion that the commissioners would like to see a tray of food at each table. They would also like to see a packet of information from all speakers highlighting what is being covered and also to have the brochures and certificates available for distribution from the HRRC. OTHER BUSINESS There was general discussion about unexcused absences. There was a motion by Commissioner Nesseth and seconded by Chairperson Lerbs to send a letter to commission members after their second unexcused absence to make them aware 01/11/95 -4- of the rules and procedures of the commission that the policy is that after three unexcused • absences, their seat may be open. The motion carried. Commissioner Achteiik abstained. It was the consensus of the commission that Staff Liaison Gohman will have the letter sent from the chairperson of the commission. ADJOURNMENT There was a motion by Vice Chairperson Brown and seconded by Commissioner Achtelik to adjourn the meeting at 9:05 Pm. The motion carried. • • 01/11/95 -5 -