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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2014-09-23 HRRC Minutes MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE HUMAN RIGHTS & RELATIONS COMMISSION September 23, 2014 6:00 PM City Hall – Community Room I. CALL TO ORDER Chair Seidman called the meeting to order at 6:04pm. II. ROLL CALL Answering roll call were Commissioners Arseneault, Bigbee, Davis, Gates, Kennedy, Sanders, Chair Seidman, Weinert, and Winnick. Staff present: Staff Liaison MJ Lamon, and City Management Fellow Lindy Crawford. III. APPROVAL OF MEETING AGENDA Motion was made by Commissioner Bigbee to amend the Regular Meeting Agenda of September 23, 2014 to add guest presenter Jessi Kingston to item VI. G. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Kennedy. Motion carried. IV. APPROVAL OF August 25, 2014 REGULAR MEETING MINUTES Commissioner Arseneault moved to approve the minutes as presented to the HRRC. Commissioner Kennedy seconded. Motion carried. V. COMMUNITY COMMENT None. VI. REPORTS/RECOMMENDATIONS A. Introduce 2014-2015 New Student Members 2014-2015 new student commissioners introduced themselves to the HRRC. B. Low Income Housing/Affordable Housing Guest speaker Joyce Repya gave a review of affordable housing and low income housing. Affordable housing is 30% or less of your adjusted gross income. Anything above 30% is not considered affordable. Low income housing is defined based on the median income and is subsidized. Joyce shared the current affordable housing numbers for the city of Edina. The Edina Housing Foundation is looking to create an affordable housing policy. Joyce suggested the HRRC could show support for the policy. C. Resolution to Rename Columbus Day Indigenous Peoples’ Day Commissioners discussed the proposed Indigenous Peoples’ Day resolution. Commissioners suggested amending the language in the last paragraph to read “…in City calendar and other City documents as appropriate.” Commissioner Kennedy moved to approve the resolution with suggested language change. Commissioner Winnick seconded. Motion carried. D. Finalize 2015 Work Plan Commissioners discussed the 2015 proposed HRRC Work Plan and suggested ideas for new initiatives. Draft of 2015 work plan will be submitted to City Staff on October 1, 2014 and presented to City Council on October 7, 2014 at a work session. E. Communication with City Council Staff Liaison Lamon informed Commissioners of the various ways to communicate with City Council. Any item that is not on the HRRC Work Plan that goes to Council for consideration will be attached to the City Council agenda as an Advisory Communication under the Correspondence section. An item that is on the HRRC Work Plan that goes to Council will be considered as a Report and Recommendation and will be placed under the Reports and Recommendations section of the City Council agenda. F. Community Conversations Update Commissioners Bigbee and Davis stated the working group has fourteen volunteers for Community Conversations and nine of those volunteers have committed times to meet. G. NFL Team Name Change Resolution Guest Speaker Jessi Kingston spoke about the NFL Team Name Change resolution. Commissioners revised the Resolution to discard “Whereas the U of M stadium is located upon University of Minnesota property, and Whereas state and federal anti-discrimination laws prohibit offensive and derogatory behavior on public property. Commissioners revised the Resolution to include “Therefore be it resolved further that the Mayor is encouraged to communicate by letter our disapproval of the use of the term “Redskins” to the National Football League, Washington team, University of Minnesota, Minnesota Vikings, the media, state and federal legislative officials, and other interested parties.” Commissioners suggested sending copies to state and federal legislatures. Commissioner Winnick moved to approve the NFL Team Name Change resolution with suggested changes. Commissioner Kennedy seconded. Motion carried. H. Edina Community Resource Center Update Commissioner Winnick updated the HRRC of the past Edina Resource Center meeting. VII. CORRESPONDENCE AND PETITIONS Commissioners reviewed correspondence received from the public by City Council. VIII. CHAIR, COMMISSION MEMBER, AND STUDENT COMMENTS A. 3CMA Conference Update Commissioner Bigbee gave an update to the HRRC about the 3CMA Conference he attended and for which he was a guest speaker at. B. Next Meeting: October 28, 2014 Chair Seidman specified the HRRC will discuss the December 11th annual televised meeting and noted there will be no monthly meeting in November. IX. STAFF COMMENTS Staff Liaison Lamon asked commissioners if someone would write a blog post. Commissioner Winnick stated he would forward information about the Edina Resource Center to Commissioner Carter for consideration in a blog post. X. ADJOURNMENT Motion was made by Commissioner Kennedy to adjourn the September 23rd meeting, Bigbee seconded. Motion carried. Meeting adjourned at 9:14pm. Respectfully submitted, ____________________________________ MJ Lamon, HRRC Staff Liaison Minutes approved by HRRC October 28, 2014 ____________________________________ Jan Seidman, HRRC Chair