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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2014-06-09 HRC minutes FinalHUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION of the City of Palm Springs Minutes from the June 9, 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 0 X 0 0 X X 10 11 11 11 9 10 10 9 10 10 6 1 0 0 0 2 1 1 2 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 June 9, 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, Chvany, Hunt, Rankins, Wilson Barton and Zendle. Student representatives Maddie Barton and Sunny Rolfs also were present. Commissioners Absent: Newby and Sutton-Weiss, both excused. 5. POSTING OF THE AGENDA: The agenda was posted in accordance with the Brown Act on or before 6 p.m., on June 5, 2014. 6. PUBLIC COMMENT: Richard Noble of Palm Springs requested that the Commission recommend a proclamation from the City Council regarding the American Equality Bill project – which seeks to insert sexual orientation and gender identity as protected classes alongside race, color, sex, national origin and religion into all of the civil rights laws of the United States. 7. GUEST SPEAKERS: This month’s topic was homelessness/poverty. Paula Joyce, Office Manager/Events Planner/Community Liaison with Well in the Desert, told the Commission that at one time she was homeless, living in her car. She now works for Well in the Desert, which serves about 125 hot meals a day to homeless and those in need. In addition to the hot meals, they are also given a sack lunch to eat later for dinner. The Well also provides showers and clean clothes, helps those in need get their birth certificates, discount identification forms and assists with resumes, she said. Items they need now include sunblock and water, she said. They also need a building with a cooling center, she said. Ms. Joyce distributed a card listing where the hot meals and food distribution takes place each day from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Lee McClellan, assistant director of Jewish Family Service of San Diego, which operates Roy’s Desert Resource Center, a shelter north of Palm Springs, spoke about that facility. She said Roy’s faces issues with transportation because of its location. Roy’s served 786 people last year and already this year it has served 480 people, she said. Sixty-five percent of the people who have come through Roy’s since the first of the year have gotten housing, she said. Roy’s operates a 90-day program, traditionally serving 75 Human Rights Commission Minutes Page 2 of 3 Meeting of June 9, 2014 2 percent men and 25 percent women. She said they are seeing more families, more seniors (107 already this year) and more mental health issues. Police Chief Al Franz was asked by the Commission about the City’s new sit/lie ordinance. Chief Franz said the ordinance wasn’t targeted at the homeless but was meant for chronic offenders who sit and panhandle, blocking the sidewalk, businesses and cross streets. Those violating the ordinance are given a warning and a resource card with information as to where they can get help. Repeat offenders are subject to a citation. Chief Franz said they are looking at a community court pilot program at the east end of the valley whereby those who have received citations or tickets can choose to get help and a case manager will be assigned to them. By opting to get help, their ticket or citation will be absolved. The Chief also said he is trying to get personnel help for Officer Barron Lane by adding a human services coordinator who can help coordinate all the available resources such as Well in the Desert, Roy’s Desert Resource Center, Coachella Valley Rescue Mission, Martha’s Village and Kitchen and the V.A. hospitals. Officer Lane said according to the last point-in-time count conducted in 2012 there were 132 homeless people in Palm Springs. The next count will take place this year. Commissioner Zendle said a lot of the problems communities have with the homeless are exacerbated by mental illness – people who don’t want to get the help that is out there. He said he does not think the Commission or the City can solve the problems until the mental health issues are addressed. Officer Lane said they have started the Human Services Support Team which is collaboration between the Police Department along with non-government organizations such as Roy’s, Well in the Desert and will include Riverside County Mental Health, Coachella Valley Rescue Mission and Desert Regional Medical Center -- organizations that can help lead the homeless to resources that are available to them rather than taking enforcement action. The Path in north Palm Springs serves those who are chronically homeless and suffering from a diagnosed mental health condition, he said. However, he added, it is difficult to convince some people that this resource will help them. 8. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES FROM THE MAY 12, 2014 MEETING: The minutes from the May 12, 2014 HRC meeting were unanimously approved 7-0 (Commissioner Newby and Sutton-Weiss absent) following a motion by Commissioner Brown and second by Commissioner Hunt. 9. ITEMS FOR DISCUSSION / AND OR VOTE 9.A Commission’s retreat, Saturday, Sept. 27: Chair Wilson Barton said the Commission will have its regular monthly meeting the second Monday in July, but the Commission will not meet in August and the September meeting will be held Sept. 27 and not the second Monday of the month. The Sept. 27 meeting will be a three hour planning retreat, open to the public, during which the Commission will hone in on the issues the Commission wants to focus on beginning in fall and make assignments as to which Commissioners will be responsible for which topic. The Sept. 27 retreat will be held in Classroom B of the Police Training Center. Following a motion by Commissioner Zendle and second by Commissioner Hunt, the Commission unanimously approved 7-0 (Commissioner Newby and Sutton-Weiss absent) spending up to $150 for refreshments for the retreat. Chair Wilson Barton said the retreat would follow a similar format as last year’s and she would facilitate. Commissioner Brown suggested going through the Commission’s literature at the retreat and weed out what is not needed. 9.B Palm Springs Police Department LGBT Outreach Committee update: Commissioner Brown said the Committee is updating its list of LGBT businesses and restaurants and working with the Visitors Center, City Hall and Library – places where the new hate crime cards will be placed. He said the cards are not just for LGBT businesses. Commissioner Rankins said it is a pamphlet card that explains what a hate crime is and it is not just based on a person’s sexual orientation. Examples are given of other types of hate crimes, he said. The cards will be distributed throughout the community, he said, and not just to LGBT businesses. 9.C Community Development Block Grant Advisory Committee update: This was Chair Wilson Barton’s first year on the Committee and she provided an overview of what they did this year. Community Development Block Grant funding is federal money distributed to communities based on the number of impoverished people in that community. Palm Springs used to get more than $700,000 in CDBG funding. This year it was allocated a little more than $300,000. However, there was more than $1 million in grant requests. The money the City receives is distributed to non-profit organizations and is used for capital projects, freeing up money in the organizations to be spent on client services. She gave examples of Human Rights Commission Minutes Page 3 of 3 Meeting of June 9, 2014 3 some of the nine grants that were given out. She said the Desert AIDS Project invited U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer to tour its facility and see what the federal money it received was being used for. 9.D. Recap of the Harvey Milk Diversity Breakfast at the Hilton Palm Springs on May 22: Chair Wilson Barton, Vice Chair Newby and Commissioners Sutton-Weiss and Zendle attended what Chair Wilson Barton described as a fabulous, celebratory, moving event. 9.E Update on mediation training: Commissioner Sutton-Weiss had informed staff that the training has been postponed. 9.F Ongoing calendar review, topics and discussion: Regarding the topic of senior issues and the stigma of ageism, Vice Chair Newby will update the Commission next month. The topic for the July HRC meeting is religious intolerance and Commissioner Zendle has invited Reymundo Nour, an Imam with the Islamic Society of the Coachella Valley to speak on the issue of Islamophobia in the Coachella Valley. The Commission will not meet in August and the planning retreat will take place in September. For the October meeting, 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 and also have him speak about the City’s recruiting, hiring and promoting of women and other minority groups. In relation to the Community Development Block Grant, Chair Wilson Barton said there is a consultant coming to speak about the City’s analysis of impediments to fair housing choice. 10. STUDENT COMMENTS: Student Representative Sunny Rolfs is graduating from Raymond Cree, ending her tenure with the HRC. Maddie Barton said she has been reappointed to represent Palm Springs High School to the Commission and Josh Rodriquez will be the alternate. 11. COMMISSIONER COMMENTS: Commissioner Zendle said the Commission could not discuss at this meeting the topic that was brought up during public comment because it was not on the Commission’s agenda. However, he said, Commissioners, as individuals, could let members of the City Council know if they are individually supportive. 12. STAFF COMMENTS: None 13. AGENDA ITEMS FOR THE JUNE 9, 2014 HRC MEETING: Commissioner Rankins asked about cooling centers in the City and staff said she would ask Dale Cook or the appropriate staff person to update the Commission on this topic at the July 14 meeting. Other agenda items include the election of a chair and vice chair, the September planning retreat and ongoing calendar review with Vice Chair Newby’s update on an offsite event addressing senior issues and the stigma of ageism. 14. ADJOURNMENT: The meeting was adjourned at 3:54 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Lee A. Bonno Staff Human Rights Commission Liaison Director of Neighborhood & Community Relations