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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2015-03-09 HRC minutes FinalHUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION of the City of Palm Springs Minutes from March 9, 2015 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 Severin Deborah Sutton-Weiss Les Zendle Maddie Barton, Student rep. Maribel Wright, Student rep. X X X X X X X X 0 X 0 8 7 5 7 7 8 8 5 6 7 3 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 3 2 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 The above roll call record is based on all meeting Minutes from July 14, 2014 thru March 9, 2015 1. Chair Wilson Barton called the meeting to order at 3:03 p.m. 2. Student Representative Maddie Barton led the flag salute. 3. Commissioner Brown recited the Mission Statement. 4. Commissioners Present: Brown, Chandrasena, Hunt, Rankins, Newby, Severin, Sutton-Weiss and Wilson Barton. Student representative Maddie Barton was also present. Commissioners Absent: Zendle, excused. 5. POSTING OF THE AGENDA: The agenda was posted in accordance with the Brown Act on or before 4:30 p.m., on March 5, 2015. 6. PUBLIC COMMENT: Jennifer Carlson, a representative of the organization Up With People, spoke about their upcoming visit to Palm Springs and their shows in March. The proceeds will be going to the Ophelia Project. 7. GUEST SPEAKER: Allison Hayes, an administrator with the Riverside County Office of Education, spoke to the Commission about cultural proficiency. She said people need to know themselves well so that they are able to get to know others even better. She showed a video addressing the topic, which she said she first saw at a conference around the subject of mindfulness and the idea of integrating mindfulness with other areas including social justice. Commissioner Rankins said there is something going in this country and if a proactive approach is not taken and dialogue not started with different cultures, race relations; it is going to get bigger than one incident in Wisconsin, one in Ferguson and one in New York. He said he has asked the Commission to start some sort of dialogue. Commissioner Rankins said they have been so proactive on so many issues in the City, and urged them to be proactive on this issue as well. He said people are more alike than not alike and all want the same thing -- respect and dignity. Commissioner Rankins said they have come so far with the Commission and he thinks this is another issue they can take up. Vice Chair Newby said this is a project the Commission has worked on over the years, adding that all City employees were trained in cultural humility. The training was also made available to Commissioners. In many respects the City is farther along than a lot of people are, Vice Chair Newby said, but it has been his experience with this kind of training is that it’s an ongoing process. It’s always being mindful and being aware of where the other person is, he said. Chair Wilson Barton said she has been reading about racial Human Rights Commission Minutes Page 2 of 3 Meeting of March 9, 2015 2 micro aggressions, the little ways everyone views the world, adding that everyone views the world through their own lens. When asked about cultural proficiency training, Ms. Hayes said it shows up in two ways – in high education and for organizations. Culture should not be viewed as a destination, but rather as a vehicle, she said, and what matters is how much we understand about ourselves and relationships. Commissioner Hunt suggested the Commission look at the work being done by Ruby Payne. She said there is a conference coming up in San Diego regarding unconscious biases. Commissioner Hunt said she agreed with what Commissioner Rankins said about starting the dialogue and she will be following up with Ms. Hayes. 8. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES FROM THE FEB. 9, 2015 MEETINGS: Following a motion from Commissioner Severin and second by Vice Chair Newby, the minutes from the Feb. 9 2015 HRC meetings were unanimously approved 8-0 (Commissioner Zendle absent). 9. ITEMS FOR DISCUSSION/AND OR VOTE 9.A Review of the Commission’s Participation in the Black History Month Parade: Chair Wilson Barton said they had an excellent turnout. Vice Chair Newby said he heard from other Commissioners that it was more beneficial for the HRC to participate in the parade than to have a booth at the Town Fair, trying to interest people in picking up the handouts available at the booth. Commissioner Severin suggested the Commission take part in the Veterans Day Parade Nov. 11. Chair Wilson Barton said that topic should be discussed at the Commission’s planning retreat in September. Staff gave Commissioner Severin the name of the person to contact regarding the parade. 9.B Participation in the Palm Springs Neighborhood Involvement Committee’s Picnic & Community Expo, Saturday, March 28, 2015: Commissioner Rankins volunteered to complete and submit the application for the HRC to have a booth at the event and Commissioner Brown volunteered to bring the table, popup and other items as well as hand-out materials. A signup sheet was circulated and Vice Chair Newby signed up to the staff the HRC’s booth from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Commissioner Rankins signed up for the 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. shift, Commissioners Brown and Severin signed up to be there the entire time and Commissioners Hunt and Chandrasena singed up to staff the booth from 12 to 2 p.m. 9.C Expectations for Commissioners: Chair Wilson Barton had prepared a list of expectations for Commissioners that she reviewed with the Commission. Commissioner Hunt said she would head up the HRC’s participation in parades. Commissioner Brown said he would continue to head up storage, event set up and literature. Commissioner Rankins volunteer to do press and Commissioner Chandrasena said she would help with speakers. Chair Wilson Barton is doing outreach to other cities and she and Commissioner Severin are providing updated information for the website. Commissioner Severin also is heading up mediation. 9.D Date for next year’s Community Service Awards presentation. Possibly moving it to February: Following a motion by Commissioner Sutton-Weiss and second by Commissioner Severin, the Commission voted 8-0 to move the Community Service Awards presentation from January to February. (Commissioner Zendle absent). 9.E Mediation Services Update: Commissioner Severin thanked those who attended the mediation training. The next step is for staff and the City Attorney to meet with the City Manager about the proposed expansion of mediation services and then it would be presented to City Department Directors before a brief to the City Council. 9.F Upcoming topics and focus of Commission - April through July and Commissioner assignments - April through July: Commissioner Chandrasena said the guest speakers for the April 13 meeting will be Nona Watson, Chief Executive Officer at the Palm Springs Chamber of Commerce, speaking about Palm Springs being a ``host town'' for the 2015 Special Olympics World Summer Games, which will be held in Los Angeles. Commissioner Chandrasena also has invited Judy A. May, Regional Director of Incight, who will speak about the need to provide adaptive sports and recreation to people with disabilities, above and beyond the developmentally disabled served by Special Olympics. She will provide an overview of year round adaptive sports opportunities now available in the Coachella Valley through Incight. For May, one guest speaker will be Kathy Little, Special Education Director for the Palm Springs Unified School District Human Rights Commission Minutes Page 3 of 3 Meeting of March 9, 2015 3 and the other will be from the Braille Institute. Chair Wilson Barton said in June, Ralph Gonzalez from Desert AIDS Project, will speak about AIDS/HIV in the youth population in Palm Springs. Chair Wilson Barton said the City Manager would like to speak to the HRC about how he can be of service to the Commission. She said that would be appropriate for July. July is also when the Commission elects its Chair and Vice Chair. Vice Chair Newby is working on the topic of aging and stigma and seniors. He said the plan would be to do an offsite, round table event with the Riverside County Office on Aging and Mizell Senior Center, co-sponsored by the Human Rights Commission in May or June. Commissioner Severin suggested the Commission do some planning/preparation for its meeting with the City Manager. Commissioner Rankins suggested the Commission ask the community what human rights topics should be discussed by the HRC. Chair Wilson Barton suggested conducting a survey. Vice Chair Newby said he views the role of Commissioners as reaching out to different aspects of the community. He said Commissioners should bring up topics that the HRC has talked about, and ask what they think the Commission is missing. Commissioner Severin said she liked the idea of a survey and suggested questions to be included. Chair Wilson Barton said she would work with Commissioner Severin and Vice Chair Newby on the survey, possibly setting up a SurveyMonkey. Vice Chair Newby asked if the Commission could submit postings to the City’s Facebook page and use other ways to put out information about what the Commission does. Chair Wilson Barton suggested starting the conversation at the PSNIC Picnic and Community Expo. 10. STUDENT COMMENTS: None 11. COMMISSIONER COMMENTS: Commissioner Severin said she and Commissioner Sutton-Weiss are on the Harvey Milk Diversity Breakfast Planning Committee. Tickets are $40. Commissioner Sutton-Weiss asked if the Commission would be in favor of sponsoring a table at a cost of $500. This will be placed on the April 13 agenda. Commissioner Severin spoke about activities taking place at the Tolerance Education Center in Rancho Mirage in conjunction with Women’s History Month in March. She also said the Conflict Management Training Center in San Diego that she is associated with conducts diversity, humility training and they will tailor it to a particular group. If there is interest, she said she would like to provide information about the training offered by the Center at the next HRC meeting. Chair Wilson Barton said she has received a couple of nice letters from people who received Community Service Awards from the Commission in January. 12. STAFF COMMENTS: Staff mentioned that the City might have to go out to bid or seek quotes from professionals who provide diversity/cultural proficiency training. 13. AGENDA ITEMS FOR THE APRIL 13, 2015 HRC MEETING: These were discussed earlier in the meeting. 13. ADJOURNMENT: The meeting was adjourned at 4:04 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Lee A. Bonno Staff Human Rights Commission Liaison Director of Neighborhood & Community Relations