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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2015.01.27 HRRC Minutes MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE HUMAN RIGHTS & RELATIONS COMMISSION January 27, 2015 7:00 PM City Hall – Community Room I. CALL TO ORDER Chair Seidman called the meeting to order at 7:00pm. II. ROLL CALL Answering roll call were Commissioners Arseneault, Bigbee, Davis, Kennedy, Sanders, Chair Seidman, Weinert, and Winnick. Staff present: HRRC Staff Liaison MJ Lamon. III. APPROVAL OF MEETING AGENDA Motion was made by Commissioner Winnick to amend the Regular Meeting Agenda of January 27, 2015 to add Edina Community Center indemnification to item VII. The motion was seconded by Arseneault. Motion carried. Motion was made by Arseneault to approve the amended Regular Meeting Agenda of January 27, 2015. The motion was seconded by Bigbee. Motion carried. IV. APPROVAL OF December 10, 2015 REGULAR MEETING MINUTES Commissioner Arseneault moved to approve the minutes as presented to the HRRC. Commissioner Winnick seconded. Motion carried. V. COMMUNITY COMMENT None. VI. GUEST SPEAKER: Timothy Olson, Lieutenant and Board & Commission Police Liaison Lieutenant Olson addressed several issues and questions from commissioners, including the Edina Police Department’s response to concerns raised by an Edina resident in correspondence received by the HRRC. Lieutenant Olson addressed the USA Today report on racial gaps in Minnesota arrests. Lt Olson reported that the City of Edina’s Communications department was contacted with a request from USA Today for information on Edina’s arrests. The Communications department asked for clarification and never heard back. USA Today published its November article, and later, KARE 11 did a report on the statistics that ranked Edina second highest. Lt. Olson shared that Chief Nelson [hand] collected the city’s arrest data for the time period covered in the USA Today article because the data was not readily available. Chief Nelson conducted his own analysis of the City of Edina’s arrest numbers by race, compared his results to the numbers reported by USA Today, and concluded USA Today’s numbers are not accurate. VII. REPORTS/RECOMMENDATIONS A. 2015 Meeting Schedule (Lamon/Seidman) The HRRC reviewed the 2015 meeting schedule and other event dates. Commissioner Sanders motioned to cancel the April meeting, Winnick seconded. Commissioner Arseneault opposed, Commissioner Bigbee abstained. Motion carried. Arseneault motioned to move the November 24th meeting to November 17th, Davis seconded. Motion carried. Liaison Lamon will request a work session in September with City Council based on the commission’s preference. B. 2015 Approved Work Plan (Seidman) The HRRC noted the following corrections and updates to the Plan. Community Conversations: Kennedy is not on the work group. Bigbee will continue as co-chair along with Davis. Human Rights City: Target completion of 2015-16. Affordable Housing: Winnick will champion. Human Trafficking: Seidman will also work on this (in addition to Student Commissioner Weinert and Arseneault). Ongoing Responsibilities Bias Offense Response and Prevention Plan (Review August 2015): Sanders Tom Oye Award (2015): Winnick Tom Oye Award (2016): Davis The Advisor (blog): still needs champion Tolerance in Motion: still in process; Community Education Center is assisting. C. Affordable Housing (Bigbee/Winnick) Commissioners Bigbee and Winnick noted Edina is recognizing the value of affordable housing. They reported the reason the City Council did not approve the 7200 France project was unconnected to the affordable housing component and was due instead to the issue of density and other reasons. The Council appeared to embrace the proposal’s affordable housing element and asked the developer to bring a revised proposal back. It was reported the developer was not able to do so economically. Commissioner Winnick noted the 66 West Beacon project remains in litigation and there has been no movement on the lawsuit. D. Community Conversations Update (Bigbee/Davis) Community Conversations are scheduled for February 17th at 7:00pm at the Edina YMCA and February 25th at 6:00p, at the Edina Library. In response to questions from other commissioners, Commissioners Bigbee and Davis clarified that attendees can be Edina residents and those who work or go to school in Edina. In response to additional inquiries, Commissioners Bigbee and Davis noted that their charge is to report information gathered from the Conversations, as opposed to making decisions regarding the information. The HRRC will be the first to receive the information gathered. E. Tom Oye Update (Winnick) Commission was provided copies of 2015 Tom Oye nominations. Vote will occur at February regular scheduled meeting. Liaison Lamon will add Tom Oye to the June agenda. Commissioners requested that the subcommittee review the award process and criteria and make any recommendations to the HRRC for improvements to the Award process. Commissioners asked that the subcommittee’s review include how many years / award cycles nominations should be considered, who can nominate and be nominated (e.g., current or former members of the HRRC?), and the date the application is due in January to determine if an earlier date would be better. F. Edina Community Council Meeting Update and Vote (Winnick) The first meeting for the 2015 fiscal year was held in early January. Motion was made by Arseneault to approve Commissioner Winnick’s three year appointment as the HRRC representative to the Edina Community Council for 2012-2015. Bigbee seconded, Winnick abstained, motion carried. Motion was made by Arseneault that the HRRC acknowledges and supports Commissioner Winnick’s appointment by the Edina Community Council as chair for the 2013-2015. Kennedy seconded, Winnick abstained, motion carried. G. 2015 Chair and Vice Chair Nomination Recommendations (Winnick) Chair recommendation: Commissioner Pat Arseneault Vice-chair recommendation: Commissioner Ellen Kennedy The HRRC will open the floor before elections at the February meeting. H. Indemnification Commissioner Winnick generally described the importance of the work of the Edina Resource Center as a resource arm of the Council and his role as the current chair. It was concluded the HRRC did not need to discuss the indemnification issue further. VIII. CORRESPONDENCE AND PETITION The HRRC has a desire to respond to the correspondence we receive. Commissioner Davis volunteered to write a draft response to the correspondence we received in this month’s meeting packet for HRRC review. Commissioners requested City Manager Scott Neal attend the February 24th HRRC Regular meeting and /or provide us with direction on whether and how to address correspondence. IX. CHAIR, COMMISSION MEMBER, AND STUDENT COMMENTS Chair Seidman alerted the commission about the communication she received from city staff about local journalist and author John Rosengren’s recent presentation on sports and diversity. Commissioner Kennedy advised that she attended the presentation and noted Rosengren would make a good guest speaker for the HRRC, e.g., at our televised meeting, on the topic of human rights efforts in sports to break down discrimination barriers. X. STAFF COMMENTS None. XI. ADJOURNMENT Motion was made by Commissioner Kennedy to adjourn the January 27th meeting, Winnick seconded. Motion carried. Meeting adjourned at 9:35pm. Respectfully submitted, ____________________________________ MJ Lamon, HRRC Staff Liaison Minutes approved by HRRC February 24, 2015 ____________________________________ Jan Seidman, HRRC Chair