HomeMy WebLinkAbout2014-05-12 HRC minutes FinalHUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION
of the
City of Palm Springs
Minutes from the May 12, 2014 Meeting
COMMISSIONERS
Present at
this Meeting
Present FY
Year-to-Date
FY 2013-14
Excused
Absences
FY 2013-14
Unexcused
Absences
Dee Dee Wilson Barton
David Brown
Jilska Chandrasena
Elena Chvany
Janel Hunt
Jack Newby
Wes Rankins
Deborah Sutton-Weiss
Les Zendle
Maddie Barton, Student rep.
Sunny Rolfs, Student rep.
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
0
X
X
9
10
10
10
8
10
9
9
9
9
5
1
0
0
0
2
0
1
1
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
The above roll call record is based on all meeting Minutes from July 8, 2013 thru May 12, 2014
1. Chair Wilson Barton called the meeting to order at 3 p.m.
2. Student representative Sunny Rolfs led the flag salute.
3. Student representative Maddie Barton recited the Mission Statement.
4. Commissioners Present: Brown, Chandrasena (arrived during the guest speaker’s presentation), Chvany,
Hunt, Newby, Rankins, Sutton-Weiss and Wilson Barton. Student representatives Maddie
Barton and Sunny Rolfs also were present.
Commissioners Absent: Zendle, excused.
5. POSTING OF THE AGENDA: The agenda was posted in accordance with the Brown Act on or before 6
p.m., on May 8, 2014.
6. PUBLIC COMMENT: Eyron Ike Rosenberg told the Commission he has the ongoing distinct feeling he is
being watched, listened to and subtly spoken to by many persons, even when he is physically alone. He
said he has been before the Commission seven years previously stating his objection and to appeal
publicly that the activity be stopped. He said this violation of human rights is of the highest nature and
must stop.
7. GUEST SPEAKER: Brianna Miller, case supervisor for Court Appointed Special Advocates, spoke to the
Commission about human trafficking. Ms. Miller is trained by the Riverside County Anti-Human Trafficking
Task Force to make presentations regarding human trafficking. The definition of human trafficking is the
recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision or the obtaining of a person for either labor or sexual
exploitation. Ms. Miller said it has to be through the use of force, such as abduction, kidnapping or fraud or
coercion. In Riverside County, she said there is labor trafficking involving agriculture workers as well as in
industries such as hotels, nail salons and massage parlors. Also taking place, she said is sex trafficking
involving exotic dancing, prostitution and online pornography. People who are very vulnerable to human
trafficking, she said, are people from impoverished or troubled homes, foster youth, countries with war or
conflict within, runaways and homeless youth. She said human trafficking is a $32 billion industry and is
tied with the second largest criminal industry in the world. She said California is one of the top five states
for human trafficking and Riverside County is a hot spot for it. Ms. Miller also spoke of human trafficking
Human Rights Commission Minutes Page 2 of 2
Meeting of May 12, 2014
2
situations in this area, including in Palm Springs. As a community, she encouraged people to be aware of
possible human trafficking victims and report any suspicious activity to 888-373-7888.
8. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES FROM THE APRIL 14, 2014 MEETING: The minutes needed to be
corrected to reflect that it was Commissioner Chandrasena who arrived a few minutes late and not
Commissioner Chvany. With that correction, the minutes were unanimously approved 8-0 (Commissioner
Zendle absent) following a motion by Commissioner Sutton-Weiss and second by Commissioner Rankins.
9. ITEMS FOR DISCUSSION / AND OR VOTE
9.A Harvey Milk Diversity Breakfast May 22, 9:30 a.m. at the Hilton Palm Springs: Chair Wilson Barton
said she will be attending and thinks Commissioner Zendle will also. Vice Chair Newby also will attend
and Commissioner Sutton-Weiss said she plans to as well.
9.B Update on mediation training: Commissioner Sutton-Weiss said she is going through the 26-page
application and will begin the training May 31.
9.C Ongoing calendar review, topics and discussion: Regarding the topic of senior issues and the stigma
of ageism, Vice Chair Newby said he has spoken to the potential presenters and this event will be planned
for a week day, starting probably at 5 or 5:30 p.m. Chair Wilson Barton said if the event doesn’t take place
before summer, it could wait until the fall. Vice Chair Newby said he was thinking about scheduling it for
mid to late June. For the June meeting, Commissioner Brown has invited a person from Well in the Desert
who is a former homeless person to speak as well as someone from Roy’s Desert Resource Center. He
said he is waiting to learn if the Police Chief will be able to attend and give a synopsis of the City’s new sit-
lie ordinance. Chair Wilson Barton said the Commission had talked about getting an update from the
City’s Human Resources Director Perry Madison regarding the City’s diversity/cultural humility training.
She suggested having Mr. Madison give that update at the HRC’s October meeting as well as discuss
how the City recruits employees and how it reaches out to different communities – how the City hires and
promotes employees. Regarding possible dates for the HRC retreat in September, the consensus was to
have it Saturday, Sept. 27.
10. STUDENT COMMENTS: Student Representative Sunny Rolfs said Raymond Cree is working with the
media to get the eighth grade public service announcements about bullying out to the public. Also, the art in
media department is working with local businesses in making fliers that support Raymond Cree’s fight against
bullying displayed in businesses, she said.
11. COMMISSIONER COMMENTS: None
12. STAFF COMMENTS: Staff reviewed the procedure and schedule for selecting the student representatives to
the HRC, noting it would be good to have those selections made so the student reps can take part in the
September retreat. Staff also announced that Palm Springs has been selected again for inclusion in the Human
Rights Campaign’s 2014 Municipal Equality Index. The Municipal Equality Index is the first nationwide
evaluation of municipal laws affecting the LQBT community. Palm Springs will receive a draft scorecard in June
to review.
13. AGENDA ITEMS FOR THE JUNE 9, 2014 HRC MEETING: No future agenda items were listed at this point
in the meeting.
14. ADJOURNMENT: The meeting was adjourned at 3:44 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Lee A. Bonno
Staff Human Rights Commission Liaison
Director of Neighborhood & Community Relations