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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1996 06-12 HRRMi, MINUTES 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 JUNE 12, 1996 CITY HALL CALL, TO ORDER The Brooklyn Center Human Rights and Resources Commission was called to order at 7:03 p.m. ROLL CALL Members present: Chair Lerbs, Vice Chair Nesseth, Commissioners Achtelik, Braziel, Doucette, Forrest, Maddox, Nyquist and Yang. Also present were Staff Liaison Gohman and Mayor Kragness. APPROVAL OF AMENDED MINUTES - APRIL 10. 1996 There was a motion by Vice Chair Nesseth and seconded by Commissioner Doucette to approve the April 10, 1996, minutes as amended. Motion carried. APPROVAL OF MINUTES - MAY 8. 1996 There was a motion by Vice Chair Nesseth and seconded by Commissioner Achtelik to approve the May 8, 1996, minutes. The motion carried. APPROVAL OF AGENDA - JUNE, 12. 1996 There was a motion by Chair Lerbs and seconded by Commissioner Forrest to approve the agenda with the following additions: Commissioner Yang to discuss an extended leave. Commissioner Forrest to discuss mediation and legislation as relates to bias hate crimes. Vice Chair Nesseth a report regarding the Minnesota League meeting. The motion carried. BIAS RESPONSE PLAN There was a general discussion about the bias response plan and the results of their bringing the bias response plan to the Council meeting on Monday, June 10, 1996. The Council has set a work session of Monday, July 1, 1996, to meet with the Human Rights and Resources Commission to discuss the bias response plan. Mayor Kragness discussed the bias response plan and asked about procedures the commission will follow when they respond to a call. There was a general discussion of legal issues associated when a commission handles bias response. There was also discussion that commissions are advisory to the City Council, the role is to make recommendations and advise the Council. 0 06/12/96 -1- 1 There was a motion by Vice Chair Nesseth and seconded by Commissioner Doucette to accept the bias/hate response plan pages one through three only; and pages four through seven be stricken. There was a general discussion on the motion. The commission discussed the history of the bias response plan, and the number of pages of the plan. There was a suggestion to make some changes to pages one through three of the bias/hate crime response plan. There was a general discussion about the question of the role of the commission, do we advise or take action. Mayor Kragness stated that it would be good for the Human Rights and Resources Commission to act as a liaison to support victims of hate crimes. This would include giving information regarding community support contacts to victims who ask for this information. The Mayor also stated that she likes the idea of training for the commission in the area of bias response and that training is very important. There was a general discussion about training. Commissioner Achtelik stated that she thought the network partners listing would be listing of contacts which would be given to victims so they can get support from the network providers and not from the commission. There was a general discussion about the plan and language changes. Vice Chair Nesseth discussed the motion, she stated that the motion should have been to ~enarate pages one through three from four through seven, not approve pages one through three. There was motion to amend the original motion, motion by Vice Chair Nesseth and seconded by Commissioner Nyquist to amend the original the motion to separate the bias response plan pages one through three only; pages four through seven be stricken. Discussion continued. Commissioner Nyquist asked to call the question. All in favor of the amendment: Voting aye: Commissioners Nesseth, Achtelik, Braziel, Doucette, Forrest, Maddox, Nyquist, and Yang. Voting nay: Chair Lerbs. The motion to amend the original motion carried. There was a vote on the motion which was amended to read: To separate the bias/hate response plan pages one through three only; pages four through seven be stricken; all those in favor: Vice Chair Nesseth, Commissioners Achtelik, Braziel, Doucette, Forrest, Maddox, Nyquist, Yang. Opposed: Chair Lerbs. The motion carried. There was a general discussion about the bias response plan regarding making adjustments to some of the language or leaving the language as is. Mayor Kragness stated that she believes the Council would like to give their input into language changes for this document at the upcoming work session. The names of organizations on the network list were also discussed. There was a general discussion of adding or modifying the names on the network partners list at this time. There was a motion by Commissioner Maddox and seconded by Vice Chair Nesseth to add the NAACP and the Urban League to the network partners list. There was a general discussion of the motion. Discussions were to extend the motion to add a list of community based organizations as we see fit allowing the list to grow. There was also opposition to any special group being added to the list, the list cannot possibly include all organizations for every group or protected class. Call for the motion. 06/12/96 -2- Call of the motion to add the NAACP and the Urban League to the network partners list. Those in favor: Vice Chair Nesseth, Commissioners Achtelik, Braziel, Doucette, Forrest, Maddox, Nyquist, and Yang. Opposed Chair Lerbs. The motion carried. There was a general discussion about how the Human Rights & Resources Commission is going to present this to the City Council. There was a motion by Commissioner Achtelik and seconded by Vice Chair Nesseth to ask Council for their input on bias response plan at the City Council work session on July 1,1996; then bring the plan back to the Human Rights and Resources Commission at the July 10, 1996, meeting to incorporate Council's input. Motion carried. THE PARADE The commission discussed the Earle Brown Days Parade. It was the consensus of the commission to participate in the parade, the lineup will start at 6 p.m. and they will ride in a city vehicle. Commissioner Yang asked about the gifts and ethics law and why the commission could not do as it did in the past year and get a vehicle from one of the dealers in the area. Mayor Kragness discussed the gifts and ethics law and the written opinion from the attorney on this matter. OTHER BUSINESS A. Absence - Commissioner Yang stated that he will be on an extended leave of absence out of the country July 25 through December or January and was wondering if he could have a substitute or take of leave absence. Mayor Kragness responded that he should write a letter to the commission asking for the extended leave and that commission members cannot have a substitute since commissioners are appointed by the Council but the Council. B. Mediation/legislation. Commissioner Forrest handed out articles regarding mediation and proposed legislation on bias response. C. Minnesota Human Rights Meetings. Vice Chair Nesseth reported on the League of Minnesota Human Rights and wanted to discuss highlights from the pack of materials that were sent out from the league. Things of interest: 1. Parliamentary procedures. 2. Information about mediation and a survey of mediation at the local level. 3. Human Rights Action Plan Worksheet. Vice Chair Nesseth also informed the commission that the Minnesota league will have its annual conference September 9, 1996 and encourages commission members to attend. ADJOURNMENT There was a motion by Commissioner Nyquist and seconded by Commissioner Braziel to adjourn at 8:45 p.m. The motion carried. 0 06/12/96 -3-