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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1994 11-30 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 SPECIAL SESSION NOVEMBER 30, 1994 CITY HALL CALL TO ORDER The Brooklyn Center human rights and resources commission met in a special meeting and was called to order by Vice Chairperson Henry at 7:05 PM. ROLL CALL Members Present: Vice Chairperson Henry, Commissioners Brown, Lerbs, Nesseth, Eckman, and Staff Liaison Nancy Gohman, recording secretary. Members Absent: Chairperson Eoloff, Commissioners Reiva, Achtelik, and Maddox. APPROVAL OF MINUTES - OCTOBER 12. 1994 There was a motion by Commissioner Lerbs and seconded by Commissioner Nesseth to approve the minutes of the October 12, 1994, meeting as submitted. The motion carried. • APPROVAL OF AGENDA - NOVEMBER 30. 1994 The commission discussed the agenda for the November 30, 1994, meeting. There was a motion by Commissioner Eckman and seconded by Commissioner Brown to approve the November 30, 1994, agenda, adding an item to discuss membership and attendance on the commission. The motion carried. CONTRACTUAL SERVICES EVALUATIONS FOR 1995 The commission discussed the recommendation and rank order of the HRRC results of the evaluation process regarding contractual services. Commissioner Brown stated there was a mathematical error in the report submitted by Staff Liaison Gohman. It appears the average was divided by six rather than seven. The rank order as recommended remained the same. Staff Liaison Gohman apologized for the error and said she would correct the averages and resubmit the recommendation to the council and city manager for discussion at the next work session. Staff Liaison Gohman also noted that the council had not reached this section in their budget work session discussions and would be dealing with this in the near future. There was general discussion about CEAP. Staff Liaison Gohman stated that she wanted the commissioners to understand that the city manager is not recommending funding of CEAP because services provided by CEAP are more directly related to Hennepin County • services rather than services provided by cities. 11/30/94 - 1 - Seven members of the commission submitted their recommendations for the evaluations and ranked the organizations as follows: AveraLye Points Funds Requested • 1. North Hennepin Mediation Project 82 $ 5,000 2. Northwest Hennepin Human Services Council 80 15,136 3. CEAP 76 9,000 4. 5-Cities Transportation 68 11,010 5. Brooklyn Peacemaker Center 62 10.000 50.146 ($40,860 proposed 1994 fund limit) HERITAGE FESTIVAL SUBCOMMITTEE REPORT Commissioner Nesseth reported that the participation in the Heritage Festival by the HRRC was a success. Those assisting her at the Festival were Vice Chairperson Henry, Commissioners Lerbs and Brown, and Council Liaison Rosene. It was a fun day, the setup for the booth was good, and she was glad the commission participated. It was also noted that the certificates were a success; many were distributed. MISSION STATEMENT Staff Liaison Gohman stated she has started to design a brochure which would include the purpose and mission statement of the human rights and resources commission. She also noted she will have a draft sample for the commission at its December meeting. The commission discussed the certificates. Commissioner Brown stated that the certificates • are a success. Vice Chairperson Henry noted he would like to see the certificates printed in duplicate so names of the people signing them could be used as a possible source as a list of people to contact concerning human rights issues in the community. Commissioner Lerbs stated that he sees it as an informational item and that the certificates are a personal thing for the individual to read and sign and should not be used as a source to solicit a list of names. Vice Chairperson Henry stated that in order to publicize the HRRC, we need to know who is interested, who the individuals are, how to get them involved, and communicate with those individuals. He also asked if there was a way we could publish human rights and resources information. Staff Liaison Gohman stated we can publish meeting information or general information through Northwest News, Brooklyn Center Sun- Post, cable TV, or the city newsletter. Vice Chairperson Henry stated it is important to publicize HRRC activities. Commissioner Brown stated that she did not push people to sign the certificates, but it would be nice to have a HRRC mailing list for people who are interested in the activities. WORKPLAN - GOALS AND OBJECTIVES The commission briefly discussed the workplan and the list of 22 items that have been brought forward at each meeting. There was general discussion on the list of-22 items, diversity training and the February joint meeting. Vice Chairperson Henry recommended moving the workplan to the December 14 meeting as tonight's meeting was a special meeting, and he wanted to focus on other issues specifically this evening. 11/30/94 -2- Vice Chairperson Henry stated that one issue the commission needs to address is to develop a quick response team or method to deal with issues. The list of 22 items is an aggressive list and is a good way to get things on the table, but we need to move along, nail things • down, and start with a workplan. There was a motion by Commissioner Eckman to make a quick response team task force or process. There was general discussion within the commission. There was a motion by Commissioner Nesseth and seconded by Lerbs to table the workplan until the December 14 meeting. The motion carried. MEMBERSHIP Vice Chairperson Henry stated his concern with what's happening with the membership. Attendance is low and it is difficult to run a meeting when there are absences and there is no quorum. Staff Liaison Gohman stated that in the past the commission has requested that staff call each member prior to the meeting. Once a call is made, those that state they cannot attend the meeting are technically excused as absent from the meeting. Commissioner Lerbs discussed the HRRC resolution regarding unexcused absences. Commissioner Nesseth stated that absences weaken the body by not having meetings. There was general discussion about the resolution and the thoughts about recommending change of the resolution to the city council. Vice Chairperson Henry stated he is concerned that there is no pool or waiting list of people to get on the commission. Staff Liaison Gohman . stated it is set by ordinance that once a vacancy is created, it must be posted within a certain amount of time through the city clerk's office and vacancy must be publicized. There was general discussion to send a letter to the HRRC members regarding the importance of membership and attendance to the human rights and resources commission. Feedback should also be obtained on why members cannot or have not been attending. Vice Chairperson Henry stated it appeared to him that the commission started running into attendance problems when there were special meetings. We had three special meetings in a row. Vice Chairperson Henry noted that we want to get feedback from all members by sending a letter asking them to address why they cannot attend meetings. Commissioner Brown stated that we hadn't had special meetings in the past, but the special meetings were to get us back on track because we have a lot to accomplish. She also stated that we have accomplished a lot with the time we have put into the commission. Commissioner Nesseth stated that we have an ambitious work list, and members need to meet in order to move on and prioritize our work list. She also noted there are people on the commission she has never met. There was general discussion about not having special meetings; special meetings are difficult; maybe not taking off summer. The commission discussed reappointments, vacancies, and how appointments are made. Staff Liaison Gohman stated she would draft a letter which would go out to all commission members from addressing attendance issues and asking for feedback from all members on why they cannot attend meetings. It was the consensus of the commission to send the letter prior to the December meeting. There was also general discussion on calling members prior to each meeting. 11/30/94 -3- There was a motion by Commissioner Lerbs and seconded by Commissioner Nesseth that city staff will no longer make reminder calls, also that staff will send a letter asking for commitment and feedback concerning absences and why members are absent, and that we are also be devising a method of determining excused and unexcused absences. The motion carried. NEXT MEETING Vice Chairperson Henry noted that the next meeting is set for the second Wednesday of December, which is December 14. There was general discussion regarding starting the December meeting at 6:00 PM rather than 7:00 PM. There was motion by Commissioner Nesseth and seconded by Lerbs to start the December 14 meeting at 6:00 PM and to end at 8:00 PM. The motion carried. There was general discussion regarding the recommendation by Commissioner Nesseth to begin every HRRC meeting at 6:00 PM. Commissioner Lerbs suggested the commission try one meeting at a time. Commissioner Brown stated that 6:00 PM may be difficult for her to attend on time. OTHER BUSINESS Vice Chairperson Henry noted that two items need to be added to the December 14 agenda: discussion of meeting times and the February joint meeting. Commissioner Lerbs asked if the signature line on the certificates could be changed for the new mayor, and Staff Liaison Gohman said that would not be a problem. Commissioner Brown asked if anyone had returned the survey on hate crimes. At this point, no commission members or members from the City have sent in the survey on hate crimes. • ADJOURNMENT There was a motion by Commission Eckman and seconded by Commissioner Nesseth to adjourn at 8:25 PM. The motion carried. • 11/30/94 -4-