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Home My WebLink About2014-11-10 HRC Minutes FinalHUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION of the City of Palm Springs Minutes from the Nov. 10, 2014 Meeting COMMISSIONERS Present at this Meeting Present FY Year-to-Date FY 2014-15 Excused Absences FY 2014-15 Unexcused Absences Dee Dee Wilson Barton David Brown Jilska Chandrasena Janel Hunt Jack Newby Wes Rankins Suzanne Reynolds Deborah Sutton-Weiss Les Zendle Maddie Barton, Student rep. Maribel Wright, Student rep. X X 0 X X X X X X X 0 4 4 1 3 4 4 4 3 3 3 2 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 The above roll call record is based on all meeting Minutes from July 14, 2014 thru Nov. 10, 2014 1. Chair Wilson Barton called the meeting to order at 3 p.m. 2. Student representative Maddie Barton led the flag salute. 3. Student representative Maddie Barton recited the Mission Statement. 4. Commissioners Present: Brown, Hunt, Newby, Rankins, Reynolds, Sutton-Weiss, Wilson Barton and Zendle. Student representative Maddie Barton was also present. Commissioner Absent: Chandrasena excused. Student representative Maribel Wright also was absent. 5. POSTING OF THE AGENDA: The agenda was posted in accordance with the Brown Act on or before 6 p.m., on Nov. 3, 2014. 6. PUBLIC COMMENT: Community Development Administrator Dale Cook asked Commissioners to complete a survey that he handed out, ranking the needs of the City’s low-to-moderate income neighborhoods and residents. He also said that bi-annually Riverside County does a homeless point-in- time count, which will take place Jan. 28. A training session for volunteer counters will be held Nov. 12 at the Palm Springs Library from 10 a.m. to noon. Allen Worthy spoke about being a victim of several crimes and subsequent lawsuits. 7. GUEST SPEAKER: George Puddephatt, Special Projects Coordinator, Riverside County Economic Development Agency, the Workforce Division, spoke to the Commission about how ageism affects older adults seeking employment. In Riverside County they have rolled out two programs to address the issues associated with older workers -- Kick Starting Your Encore Career and How to Get Interviews in the 21st Century Economy. He spoke about the number of people who attended these workshops and where they were held. Mr. Puddephatt said many people they see report that they perceive ageism as a factor in not getting employed. Often it is disguised as, “You’re over qualified” and many businesses do not get back to prospective employees who have submitted applications and resumes. He said they have five locations throughout the County, with the local office being in Indio. He added that there is no cost for their services to either the job seekers or the businesses. Mr. Puddephatt said they have a jobs data base that people search and they offer training. Everything they do, he said, is to help people get back to work and to get businesses highly qualified, well trained individuals to fill those positions. The value of an older worker’s Human Rights Commission Minutes Page 2 of 3 Meeting of Nov. 10, 2014 2 job experience cannot be overstated he said, noting that many older workers would be happy to have a job that is reasonably close to where they live and that can help supplement their income. 8. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES FROM THE SEPT. 27, 2014 AND OCT. 13, 2014 MEETINGS: The minutes from the Sept. 27, 2014 and Oct. 13, 2014 HRC meetings were unanimously approved 8-0 following a motion by Commissioner Reynolds and second by Commissioner Brown. (Commissioner Chandrasena absent) 9. ITEMS FOR DISCUSSION / AND OR VOTE 9.A Review the Commission’s participation in the Palm Springs Pride Parade: Commissioner Reynolds said it was a lot of fun, adding that they decorated an electric vehicle and rode in it. She also brought the Commission’s new banner that was displayed in the parade. Commissioner Zendle said they reached more people by participating in the parade than staffing a booth for two days. Commissioner Hunt said the Commission was well received by parade watchers. Commissioner Rankins was in the parade as an award recipient. Chair Wilson Barton thanked Commissioner Reynolds for organizing the Commission’s participation in the parade. 9.B Community Service Awards to be presented Jan. 12, 2015. Nominations due Nov. 14, 2014: Commissioner Zendle said the nomination announcement went out, but he wasn’t sure if it was published in the newspaper. He said he would post the information on Facebook. He said they have received several nominations already. Commissioners Zendle, Sutton-Weiss and Rankins will review the nominations and make their recommendations at the Dec. 8 HRC meeting for approval. 9.C Commission’s Annual Report – Chair Wilson Barton said that at the HRC’s planning meeting they discussed doing an annual report/status report at a City Council meeting summarizing what the Commission did last year and what it is doing this year. She distributed a draft report for Commissioners’ comments and went through it. Commissioners offered suggestions, which Chair Wilson Barton said she would include. One was to ask the Council what the Commission could do for them and give examples of how the Commission has helped the Council in the past. Another was the Commission’s influence in the City receiving a perfect score in the Human Rights Campaign’s Municipality Equality Index. 9.D Review informational flier – Chair Wilson Barton asked what the Commission thought about the flier she put together last year. Vice Chair Newby said it is good to have a flier to hand out. He said it can be put out at the Mizell Senior Center, the Library, James O. Jessie Desert Highland Unity Center as well as community bulletin boards at coffee shops. Chair Wilson Barton said the flier can also be distributed at the school district. She asked Commissioners to send her any edits, additions or changes and she’ll have the updated flier ready for distribution by the Dec. 8 meeting. 9.E Ongoing calendar review, topics and discussion – Commissioner Rankins said he wants to see what the City plans to implement regarding the homeless before putting the topic back on the Commission’s agenda. 9.F Cultural Proficiency – Commissioner Hunt said cultural proficiency is how you respond to issues that emerge in a diverse environment. She said culture is learned traditions, principles and guides of behavior that are shared among members of a particular group. She said there are codes of behavior, values, norms, beliefs, customs, communications or the way we do things. Art, music, food, literature and clothing are all visible aspects of culture. Ethnic groups, businesses and neighborhoods all have cultures and everyone is part of many cultures, she said. She went through Mason et al.’s Cultural Competence Model. Commissioner Hunt said she is arranging for Allison Haynes from the Riverside County Office of Education to be a guest speaker on this topic at the Dec. 8 HRC meeting. 9.G Mediation Services – Commissioners Reynolds said they are on track to expand their offering starting in January. They intend to start first by offering training to the Palm Springs Neighborhood Involvement Committee and Commissioners. She said the first phase of the expanded program would look at more neighborhood issues, common issues that affect neighbor to neighbor and more community issues, landlord/tenant, businesses. More details and discussion will take place at the Dec. 8 meeting. Human Rights Commission Minutes Page 3 of 3 Meeting of Nov. 10, 2014 3 9.H Proposal to start the monthly Commission meetings at 3:15 p.m. or 3:30 p.m. instead of 3 p.m.: Following discussion, Chair Wilson Barton moved to start the Commission meetings at 3:30 p.m. Following a second by Commissioner Reynolds, the motion failed 1-yes, 7-no, 1-absent. Chair Wilson Barton was the 1 yes vote. (Commissioner Chandrasena absent) 10. STUDENT COMMENTS: Maddie Barton reported on what is going on at Palm Springs High School including an anti-bullying presentation developed and performed by the drama department in October. The LGBT Center did an anti-bullying presentation for ninth grade students, she said. Last week was red ribbon week focusing on being drug free and this week is yellow ribbon week with activities focused on suicide prevention, she said. 11. COMMISSIONER COMMENTS: Commissioners congratulated Commissioner Rankins for being a recipient of the 2014 Spirit of Pride Award. (The award is presented to individuals who enhance the quality of life in the region by raising awareness to advance equality, promote diversity or celebrate the strength or talent of the LGBT community.) 12. STAFF COMMENTS: None 13. AGENDA ITEMS FOR THE DEC. 8, 2014 HRC MEETING: Agenda items were discussed throughout the meeting. 12. ADJOURNMENT: The meeting was adjourned at 4:16 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Lee A. Bonno Staff Human Rights Commission Liaison Director of Neighborhood & Community Relations