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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1994 01-12 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 REGULAR SESSION JANUARY 12, 1994 CITY HALL CALL TO ORDER The Brooklyn Center Human Rights and Resources Commission met in regular session and was called to order by Chairperson Stoderl at 7:05 p.m. ROLL CALL Chairperson Stoderl, Commissioners Achtelik, Brown, Olsen, Eckman, Maddox, and Eoloff. Also present were Councilmember Rosene and Recording Secretary Kim Moore-Sykes, filling in for Geralyn Barone. Commissioner Reiva was excused from the meeting. APPROVAL OF MINUTES There was a motion by Commissioner Achtelik and seconded by Commissioner Maddox to approve the minutes of the December 8, 1993, meeting as submitted. The motion passed. APPOINTMENT OF THE CHAIRPERSON Chairperson Stoderl called for nominations from the group for chairperson. Because it is the first meeting of the year, the by-laws state that a chairperson must be named for the new year. Commissioner Olsen nominated Chairperson Stoderl and Commissioner Maddox seconded. Chairperson Stoderl accepted. Chairperson Stoderl then asked for nominations and discussion for vice-chairperson. Chairperson Stoderl recommended that Commissioner Brown be reappointed as vice-chairperson. Commissioner Eoloff questioned voting at this time on this appointment as Commissioner Brown has not arrived yet. Chairperson Stoderl said that according to the by-laws of the commission, she can reappoint without a vote being taken and the reappointment is subject to Commissioner Brown's acceptance. Chairperson Stoderl reappointed Commissioner Brown as vice-chairperson; if she was not willing to accept, then nominations would be taken and voted on. Commissioner Brown arrived at 7:10 and accepted the reappointment as vice-chairperson. JOINT COMMISSION/COUNCIL MEETING There was discussion on the documents for the Joint Commission/Council meeting. Chairperson Storderl asked Recording Secretary Sykes to check on the current commissions and task forces for changes in chairpersons. She requested the list of chairpersons for each commission and task force. Recording Secretary Sykes also confirmed that the video of the department heads' interviews have been scheduled and are in the process of being taped. There was a motion by Commissioner Eoloff and seconded by Commssioner Eckman to 01/12/94 - 1 - approve the Joint Commission/Council meeting documents. The motion passed. Councilmember Rosene arrived 7:13 p.m. Introductions were made at this time for the recording secretary. Chairperson Stoderl asked that she be phoned when the RSVP's to the joint meeting start to come in so that she can have the names and spellings verified on her list. Chairperson Storderl and Councilmember Rosene will be the MC's for the evening, and she suggested that perhaps it might be appropriate for the Human Rights and Resources commissioners to do the introductions of the chairpersons or commissioners making the presentations for their commission. Discussion began on the planning of this idea. It was generally agreed that a 30- second biographical introduction would be of interest and would give all the attendees an idea of who the various commissioners are. Recording Secretary Sykes will call each Human Rights and Resources commissioner with the correct spelling/pronunciation of the name and telephone number of the commissioner they are to introduce. Also, Recording Secretary Sykes is to contact Cable TV Northwest to make sure they are scheduled to be there, to determine what equipment needs they have and their tentative schedule of airings. They should also provide a video cassette so that those residents that do not have cable may borrow it from the City to view. There was discussion on the types of refreshments that should be available. It was decided to go with a few hors d'ourves, decaffeinated coffee and iced water. It was felt that since the meeting would be starting at 7:00 p.m., there was no need to have anything more than these types of refreshments. They also thought that some finger foods might be nice to have at individual tables as well as pitchers of water and decaffeinated coffee. GOALS FOR THE YEAR There was discussion about the new goals for the commission for 1994. Chairperson Stoderl read the list of goals for 1993 and asked about continuing some of them for the next year. Commissioner Brown thought that diversity and community education were two issues that the commission should consider. Commissioner Maddox brought up transportation and the Humboldt Avenue site. A question about the goals and plans of the Northwest Hennepin Human Services Council came up. It was agreed that it would be beneficial for Patty Wilder or another representative of the Northwest Hennepin Human Services Council to meet with the group regarding their vision/values statement for the coming year. Commissioner Eoloff reported that she spoke with Ms. Wilder and she indicated that she will try to have something in writing to the group by this spring. The commission might also contact the League of Minnesota Human Rights Commissions. Another possible area for further consideration might be children's issues. Commissioner Olsen reported that she called the community education program and felt they were doing a good job dealing with the problem of literacy in Brooklyn Center. Chairperson Stoderl said there are other areas in community education on which the group and the City can decide to be proactive. Some are cultural sensitivity and management training. Commissioner Maddox felt a lot could be done with cultural diversity training for adults in the community. The children are getting exposed to cultural diversity in the schools but felt that it might be lost on them if their home environments are not supportive of cultural diversity. There was discussion on some forums (i.e., Earle Brown Days, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and Heritage Days activities) that could be done at the adult level to help educate and promote cultural 01/12/94 -2- diversity. Other possible activities included Mixed Blood Theatre productions and exhibitions of folk dances. Commissioner Brown reported that folk dances are a wonderful and interesting way of showing the diversity of culture, yet at the same time it focuses on the commonality of cultures in dance as it is universally accepted and understood. Posters, seminars, parades, etc., were activities also discussed. Chairperson Stoderl advised that for some of these activities, Earle Brown and Heritage Days, the speakers need to be contacted now. The staff liaison was asked about any diversity training scheduled for City employees. She reported that the City has been getting information from other cities that have put on diversity training for their employees. The City has received a lot of information about the availability of this type of training. Many human resource groups offer to do training seminars for a fee. The City has had recommendations for various firms and will follow up on them. Chairperson Stoderl made a motion that cultural diversity education materials be distributed at the June parade for Earle Brown Days and that the group continue its community education efforts in working with the Earle Brown Days activities. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Brown. It was suggested that Mr. Splinter be invited to attend the March meeting to discuss the City's efforts toward education of cultural diversity. Commissioner Eoloff is also to continue working on finding vendors to produce/print materials for distribution at the parades for Earle Brown and Heritage Days. Chairperson Stoderl said that community service awards are another idea for consideration and should be on hold until the April meeting. She advised that the group needs to be clear on who is eligible to receive this award and who can nominate for the award. There are two award 0 categories: 1) human rights, and 2) human resources that can be awarded at the February, 1995, meeting. Chairperson Stoderl asked for a motion to adjourn. There was a motion by Commissioner Eckman and seconded by Commissioner Maddox to adjourn the meeting. The motion passed. The Human Rights and Resources Commission adjourned at 9:13 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Kim Moore-Sykes, Recording Secretary • 01/12/94 -3-