Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2014-12-08 HRC minutes Draft HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION of the City of Palm Springs Minutes from the Dec. 8, 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 X X X X X 0 X X 0 5 5 2 4 5 5 5 3 4 4 2 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 2 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 Dec. 8, 2014 1. Chair Wilson Barton called the meeting to order at 3:04 p.m. 2. Commissioner Brown led the flag salute. 3. Commissioner Hunt recited the Mission Statement. 4. Commissioners Present: Brown, Chandrasena, Hunt, Newby, Rankins, Reynolds, Wilson Barton and Zendle. Student representative Maddie Barton was also present. Commissioners Absent: Sutton-Weiss, 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 Dec. 4, 2014. 6. PUBLIC COMMENT: Allen Worthy said he has been the victim of civil rights violations and harassments. 7. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES FROM THE NOV. 10, 2014 HRC meeting were unanimously approved 8- 0 following a motion by Vice Chair Newby and second by Commissioner Brown. (Commissioner Sutton- Weiss absent) 8. ITEMS FOR DISCUSSION / AND OR VOTE 8.A Approval of Community Service Award recipients -- The awards will be presented Jan. 12, 2015. Commissioners Zendle, Sutton-Weiss and Rankins reviewed the 12 applications submitted by the public and HRC members and recommended the Commission give awards to all 12. The following is a list of the 12 nominees: • NestEggg Food Bank, which is the food bank at the LGBT Center. It operates every Thursday and serves up to 14,300 households a year. • Daniel Reynolds, a volunteer at the Braille Institute for the past four years, provides education and technology assistance to students and individuals who are blind, often traveling between Hemet and El Centro to work with them. • Martha’s Village and Kitchen, one of the largest providers of homeless services in the Coachella Valley and Riverside County. Human Rights Commission Minutes Page 2 of 4 Meeting of Dec. 8, 2014 2 • Tere Romero Britton, the volunteer director of Coachella Valley BookPALS (Performing Artists for Literacy in Schools), which has given away nearly 15,000 books to children from low-income families in the Coachella Valley. • Big Brothers and Big Sisters of the Desert, a one-on-one mentoring program that matches an adult volunteer with a child who is missing a role model or parental figure in their lives. • Mika Moulton, founder of Christopher’s Clubhouse in La Quinta after her 10 -year-old son was kidnapped and murdered in 1995. Christopher’s Clubhouse is dedicated to teaching c hildren safety and self-defense. • Michael Weems, a local Palm Springs artist who collects needed items for the homeless, and with the help of many volunteers, distributes Care Bags to those living on the streets around Palm Springs . • Timothy Bradley, WBO welterweight champion who donates his time and resources to numero us charities throughout the Coachella Valley. • Dio Ramirez, MD and Liz Ramirez, RN, who have donated more than 1,400 hours of professional clinical services at the Coachella Valley Volunteers in Medicine free clinic in Indio over the past two years . They have cared for hundreds of patients who do not have health insurance. • Get Tested Coachella Valley, a program out of the Desert AIDS Project, is a region-wide public health campaign dedicated to dramatically reducing HIV by making voluntary HIV testin g standard and routine medical practice and ensuring linkage to care. • Carolyn Caldwell, CEO of Desert Regional Medical Center, is being honored for her championing of Get Tested Coachella Valley, getting $1.5 million donated by the Tenant Hospital System to the program; her involvement in the establishment of the University of California Riverside School of Medicine ’s training program at Desert Regional Hospital and her advocacy for affordable health care and has worked with the Clinton Initiative and the Desert Highland Neighborhood and Unity Center. • Thomas Smith, president of the Palm Springs Rotary Club, who this year received the President’s Call to Service Award recognizing over 4,000 hours of documented volunteer services. His projects range f rom giving books to elementary schools to helping sponsor a prom for youth with disabilities and senior citizen assistance. Vice Chair Newby asked for clarification regarding honoring programs of organizations that have been honored before. Commissioner Zendle said both NestEggg Food Bank and Get Tested Coachella Valley are supported by more than the one organization associated with it and they are two unique projects that are relatively new to the Valley and the committee felt deserved to be honored. Following a motion by Vice Chair Newby and second by Commissioner Zendle the slate of 12 nominees recommended by the committee was unanimously approved 8-0. (Commissioner Sutton-Weiss absent) Following a motion by Commissioner Zendle and second by Vice Chair Newby the Commission unanimously approved 8-0 spending up to $250 for the awards. (Commissioner Sutton-Weiss absent) At its February meeting the Commission will review the criteria for the awards and critique this year’s awards program. The Commission discussed having a photographer at the awards presentation. It was decided to take a group photo and not individual pictures. Chair Wilson Barton reviewed the responsibilities of the Commissioners, including writing about a one minute introduction for each award recipient and calling the recipients they have been assigned. The student reps will introduce the Big Brothers and Big Sisters of the Desert and Get Tested Coachella Valley Commissioner Chandrasena will introduce Daniel Reynolds Vice Chair Newby will introduce Carolyn Caldwell Commissioner Rankins will introduce Timothy Bradley Commissioner Zendle will introduce Dr. Dio Ramirez and Nurse Liz Ramirez and Chair Wilson Barton will introduce Mika Moulton Commissioner Reynolds will introduce Michael Weems Commissioner Brown will introduce Nest Eggg Food Bank and Martha’s Village and Kitchen Human Rights Commission Minutes Page 3 of 4 Meeting of Dec. 8, 2014 3 Commissioner Hunt will introduce Tere Romero Britton Commissioner Sutton-Weiss will introduce Thomas Smith Chair Wilson Barton will send a letter to each award recipient before the Jan. 12, 2015 presentations. 8.B Mediation Services – Commissioner Reynolds said the plans to expand the existing mediation services continue to get momentum. She said she met with the Executive Committee of the Palm Springs Neighborhood Involvement Committee and the group is very interested in the program and thought it would be a valuable resource to them. Discussions will continue as to how PSNIC and the HRC can partner on the mediation services. Currently the Commission handles discrimination cases through its mediation services, she said. Those are the only cases the Commission currently handles. At the HRC retreat one of the initiatives was to broaden that scope and do more outreach, she said, to possibly ha ve a bigger impact on the community. Following the September retreat, Commissioner Reynolds has put a proposal together. Since the 1970s there have been a number of community mediation programs throughout the U.S., she said. She explained that a successful mediation program, promotes a tolerance for differences and a respect for diversity; it’s a means to resolve a situation collaboratively and cooperatively before it escalates or turns into a legal matter and it also preserves relationships and the harmony of a neighborhood or community. The scope being proposed is neighbor to neighbor, landlord to tenant, business to consumer and/or business to business. She said they will not be doing code enforcement or court referred cases or family matters. Commissioner Reynolds said they would like to begin offering this expanded mediation service early in the year – January or February. Commissioner Reynolds has been working with former HRC Chair Jerry Trussell, who also is a credentialed, experienced mediator. They are working on a training course to involve interested Commissioners and neighborhood leaders. The course would teach dispute resolution techniques and other skills. Commissioner Zendle asked why this was a human rights issue, except for issues of discrimination. Commissioner Reynolds noted the HRC’s mission statement regarding improving human relations and acceptance of diversity. She said this type of dispute resolution forum is a way for people to respectively talk through their differences and get a better understanding of where the other person lives. People have different perceptions, she said, and a lot of times these differences are the reasons for the dispute. For every complaint, she said, there is an underlying need – very basic needs that everyone has in common – respect, safety, security, acknowledgement, fairness. Commissioner Reynolds said the HRC is in a very good position to lead this expanded program. Chair Wilson Barton said the issues are ones of cultural proficiency – issues of different world views, which she said the Commission decided was an important topic for the HRC to focus on this year. Commissioner Reynolds said there are a few more things that need to be done to put the expanded program in place and she is taking the lead on those. 8.C. Cultural Competency – The guest speaker to address this issue will be scheduled for the Feb. 9 HRC meeting and the guest speakers addressing the topic of people with disabilities will be invited to the March 9 meeting. 8.D Commission’s Annual Report – The report, which incorporates some minor revisions and reformatting, was distributed. Following a motion by Commissioner Zendle and second by Vice Chair Newby the Commission voted 8-0 to approve the annual report to go to the City Council. (Commissioner Sutton- Weiss absent) 8.E Updated informational flier – Chair Wilson Barton distributed the informational flier, but some typos needed to be corrected before it can be distributed throughout the City. Chair Wilson Barton will make the corrections, date it and email the flier to the Commissioners for them to print and distribute. 9. STUDENT COMMENTS: Maddie Barton reported the high school is CIF champions. Maddie gave her report earlier in the meeting, after Public Comments, because she had to leave. 10. COMMISSIONER COMMENTS: Commissioner Zendle said he had been thinking a lot this month about the deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner, what occurred, what’s come out of it and the human rights issues that it raises, what it says about relations between races in this county and between police and members of the community. He said he hoped the Commission could spend some time this year talking about it more. Human Rights Commission Minutes Page 4 of 4 Meeting of Dec. 8, 2014 4 Commissioner Brown recommended inviting the Palm Springs ROTC to Post the Colors at the January meeting. Chair Wilson Barton asked him to coordinate this with the high school. He also said he dropped off some of the HRC’s pens to the R&R Broadcasting for its pen-of-the day promotion, and as a result, the Commission’s mission statement was read on one of the radio stations as well as when and where the Commission meets. Commissioner Rankins thanked everyone for their well wishes regarding the 2014 Spirit of Pride Award he received. Commissioner Rankins asked about having a forum on race relations with police officers in the community. As an African American man, he said he is marked and it is unfair. They are counting on the legal system and the justice system and they don’t seem to be working, he said. 11. STAFF COMMENTS: None 13. AGENDA ITEMS FOR THE JAN. 12, 2015 HRC MEETING: Community Service Awards presentation 12. ADJOURNMENT: The meeting was adjourned at 4:14 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Lee A. Bonno Staff Human Rights Commission Liaison Director of Neighborhood & Community Relations