Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2015.06.23 HRRC Minutes MINUTES HUMAN RIGHTS AND RELATIONS COMMISSION June 23, 2015 at 7:00PM City Hall, Community Room I. CALL TO ORDER Chair Arseneault called the meeting to order at 7:04 pm. II. ROLL CALL Commissioners answering roll call were Chair Arseneault, Commissioners Rinn, Seidman, Vecchio-Smith and Winnick. Staff present: HRRC Staff Liaison, MJ Lamon, City Management Fellow Devin Massopust and Economic Development Manager Bill Neuendorf. Absent members: Commissioners Burza, Kennedy, and Sanders, and Student Commissioners Gates and Weinert. III. APPROVAL OF MEETING AGENDA Commissioner Seidman moved to approve the June 23, 2015 meeting agenda. Commissioner Winnick seconded. Motion carried. IV. APPROVAL OF MEETING MINUTES Chair Arseneault stated that Commissioner Rinn was not included in the Roll Call portion of the May 26th minutes, though she was in attendance. Commissioner Winnick moved to amend the minutes to include Commissioner Rinn as present. Commissioner Siedman seconded. Motion carried. Motion was made by Commissioner Seidman to approve the amended meeting minutes from the May 26, 2015 HRRC meeting. Commissioner Rinn seconded. Motion carried. Commissioner Tian arrived at 7:09 pm. City Management Fellow Devin Massopust introduced himself to the Commission. V. COMMUNITY COMMENT None. VI. GUEST SPEAKER: Bill Neuendorf, Economic Developer Economic Development Manager Bill Neuendorf updated the Commission on development activity taking place around the City. He stated that residential redevelopment is continuing to occur at a fast pace with 134 teardowns so far this year. Chair Arseneault asked if the people moving into the new homes are already Edina residents or if they are mostly new residents. Neuendorf replied that there is no concrete data on that, but that in his own neighborhood it is a mix. Neuendorf then updated the Commission on development taking place in the Southdale area that includes Fairview Southdale Emergency Room, the Southdale Medical Expansion and the Aurora on France Project. He also updated the Commission on the various housing developments that are taking place or may take place including the 66 West Apartments, the 7200 France Project, Onyx on York and 71 France Apartments. Due to the new development in housing complexes, Commissioners stated they would like to know whether there is still an issue of families moving into apartments that they believe are in the Edina School District, but are actually in the Richfield School District. The Commission also desires to ensure that there is an affordable housing policy in place with regard to the new housing units being built. VII. REPORTS AND RECOMMENDATIONS A. Work Plan Updates a) Community Outreach: Chair Arseneault relayed information from Commissioner Burza stating that Community Conversations is moving forward and that there will be an update at the next meeting. She also stated that the listening sessions will likely be scheduled in the first or second week of October. b) Human Rights City Designation: Commissioner Winnick gave an update regarding the speaking outline that was created with input from all members of the working group for the presentations on the Human Rights Cities Initiative. Evaluation cards were also developed in conjunction with the presentation. The first presentation to the Minneapolis University Rotary Club on June 3 was well received as indicated by the high ratings on the evaluation forms that were completed following the presentation. c) Affordable Housing: Commissioner Winnick presented a report from the Edina Housing Foundation regarding the current state of affordable housing in the City, as well as the proposed affordable housing policy. The Commission decided that they would like to voice their support for the approval of an Affordable Housing Policy. A motion was made by Commissioner Winnick to approve the HRRC Affordable Housing Committee’s drafting of an HRRC resolution to endorse in substantial form the adoption of the Affordable Housing policy as recommended by the Edina Housing Foundation. Motion seconded by Vecchio-Smith. Motion carried. The HRRC Affordable Housing Committee will provide a draft of the communication for City Council regarding the HRRC’s resolutions, to be sent by email to commissioners for review by the end of the week. The Committee will work with Chair Arseneault to finalize the communication before next Tuesday’s Council meeting. d) ADA Proposal: Commissioner Vecchio-Smith stated that she is in correspondence with a friend who has vast experience with the ADA and hopes to be able to create an informational document that will provide some observations and personal experiences regarding the impact of the law that could be more widely shared through a blog and other City communication forms. e) Tom Oye Award Procedure Review: Commissioner Rinn reported that the Tom Oye Award Committee has just met to begin the review of the Award, with the goal to provide recommendations to Commissioners in July or August for addressing multiple issues regarding the Award Procedure. B. Website Proposal Commissioner Tian gave a presentation on possible improvements that could be made to the Commission’s website. Based on the commissioners’ feedback, Tian will send a list of recommendations to the staff liaison, who will then forward it to the Communications and Technology Services Department for consideration. In conjunction with updating and improving the Commission’s website, commissioners noted the need to have an updated photograph of the Commission, to be taken in August. VIII. CORRESPONDENCE AND PETITION In response to correspondence received from the liaison to the Eden Prairie Human Rights Commission regarding a movement to effect the history that is reflected in art at the Capitol, Chair Arseneault will attend the proposed presentation by a representative from “Healing MN Stories” and will report back to the Commission about the Capitol Art Project, for possible inclusion in the 2016 work plan. IX. CHAIR AND COMMISSIONER COMMENTS Chair Arseneault informed the Commission that Commissioner Sanders resigned. She also noted that at the July and August meetings, the Commission should be prepared to address the 2016 work plan. Chair Arseneault also informed the Commission that Commissioner Rinn has volunteered to serve on the Human Services Taskforce as the HRRC representative. Commissioner Rinn stated that the work that she participated in regarding revised guidelines for Human Services vendor applications was completed, and the RFP (Request for Proposals) has been finalized. Commissioner Vecchio-Smith informed the Commission that she is waiting to discuss the possible partnership with the Edina School’s Parent Community Network regarding hard conversations. X. STAFF COMMENTS There were no staff comments. XI. ADJOURNMENT Commissioner Winnick moved to adjourn the June 23rd meeting. Commissioner Seidman seconded. Meeting adjourned at 8:58 pm. Respectfully submitted, ____________________________________ MJ Lamon, HRRC Staff Liaison Minutes Approved by HRRC June 23, 2015 __________________________________________ Pat Arseneault, HRRC Chair