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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2015-04-13 HRC minutes FinalHUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION of the City of Palm Springs Minutes from April 13, 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 0 X X 0 X X X X 0 0 9 7 6 8 7 9 9 6 7 7 3 0 2 2 0 1 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 April 13, 2015 1. Chair Wilson Barton called the meeting to order at 3 p.m. 2. Commissioner Rankins led the flag salute. 3. Commissioner Sutton-Weiss recited the Mission Statement. 4. Commissioners Present: Chandrasena, Hunt, Rankins, Severin, Sutton-Weiss, Wilson Barton and Zendle. Commissioners Absent: Brown and Newby, both excused. 5. POSTING OF THE AGENDA: The agenda was posted in accordance with the Brown Act on or before 6 p.m., on April 9, 2015. 6. PUBLIC COMMENT: Thomi Clinton, who is with the Transgender Day of Remembrance Palm Springs, invited the Commission to participate with a table or booth at the Transgender Day of Remembrance Vigil Nov. 20, which may be in Ruth Hardy Park this year. She said they are raising funds for a statue. She said she would also like to have a conversation about gender neutral bathrooms in Palm Springs. 7. GUEST SPEAKER: Judy May, Regional Director of Incight, spoke about the non-profit organization which represents and works on behalf of persons with disabilities, other than those who are developmentally disabled. She said only about 1 in 5 people with a disability is employed and only 17 percent go to college. The organization was started, she said, to change those numbers. In 2010, they entered 4 amputees in the Tour de Palm Springs. More than 100 disabled entered the Tour de Palm Springs in 2015. Ms. May said they have changed the face of adapted sports in the desert, because there was none. Three years ago they started a Disability Sports Festival here and now more than 550 people participated. She said most of her work is being done down valley and other than the Tour de Palm Springs, she said, this side of the valley is not actively engaging persons with disabilities – something she said she would like to see changed. Her goal, she said, is to build a disability sports and rehab center in the Coachella Valley. 8. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES FROM THE MARCH 9, 2015 MEETINGS: Following a motion from Commissioner Severin and second by Commissioner Sutton-Weiss, the minutes from the March 9, 2015 HRC meeting was unanimously approved 7-0 (Commissioners Brown and Newby absent). 9. ITEMS FOR DISCUSSION/AND OR VOTE Human Rights Commission Minutes Page 2 of 3 Meeting of April 13, 2015 2 9.A Harvey Milk Diversity Breakfast May 22 and possible expenditure of funds – Commissioner Severin said she and Commissioner Sutton-Weiss are on the Harvey Milk Diversity Breakfast Committee and the event will be held at the Hilton. Last month the possibility of the HRC sponsoring one of the 36 tables was brought up. The cost is $500 to sponsor a table which seats 10. Commissioner Severin outlined some of the other benefits of sponsoring a table and said she personally committed for a $500 table for the HRC. Commissioner Zendle moved that the Commission allocate $500 to get a table for the HRC to be at the breakfast. Following a second by Commissioner Sutton-Weiss, the motion was unanimously approved 7-0 (Commissioners Brown and Newby absent). There was a high level of interest in attending expressed by the Commissioners at the meeting. 9.B Future presentation on Aging – Chair Wilson Barton said that Vice Chair Newby has planned for the Commission to co-sponsor an event on ageism May 7 along with the Riverside County Office on Aging and Mizell Senior Center. Featured Speakers will include: Michelle Haddock, Director of the Riverside County Office on Aging and Sandy Fitzpatrick, the Executive Director of the California Commission on Aging and Ed Walsh, the former Director of the Riverside County Office on Aging. The time of the event has not been decided, Chair Wilson Barton said, but it most likely would be during the day. Commissioner Zendle made a motion that the Commission co-sponsor the event. Following a second by Commissioner Rankins, the motion was unanimously approved 7-0 (Commissioners Brown and Newby absent). 9.C Resident Survey about the Human Rights Commission – Chair Wilson Barton said at last month’s HRC meeting Commissioners discussed getting feedback from the community about their perception of the Commission. Commissioner Severin said her impression from the PSNIC Picnic & Community Expo is that people weren’t real aware of everything the Commission has going on. Commissioner Zendle said that unless the purpose of the survey is to educate people, he wasn’t so sure of its value. Chair Wilson Barton said she met with City Manager David Ready regarding what the Commission can do for the City and he asked what the City can do to support the HRC. She said she gave him a copy of the Commission’s annual report. Two topics she said they discussed were recruiting women and minorities in the police and fire departments and the Commission’s mediation program. Chair Wilson Barton said the City Manager was most interested in Pathways to Leadership and helping the City recruit different populations into City staff positions and the mediation program as a way to make the City more efficient. She said he asked for a 10-point program on how the Commission can enhance recruitment. The City Manager suggested the Commission establish a subcommittee to work with him on this, she said. Commissioner Rankins said there are certain parts of the population that don’t feel like they are represented, they feel like they are neglected. He said there needs to be a dialogue. He said he feels included because he is gay, not because he is black. He said he would like to know what the arrest rates are for non-minorities vs minorities with the large non-minority police department. Commissioner Zendle said the Commission can take a consulting role to the City’s Human Resources Department in terms of City hiring. Regarding the issues Commissioner Rankins raised, Commissioner Zendle suggested forming a subcommittee to address it and bring it back to the Commission with some parameters or devote one meeting or a special meeting to the topic to break it apart and figure out which way to go. Chair Wilson Barton suggested spending time at the HRC’s planning meeting in September on the subject, but other Commissioners said something needs to occur before then. Commissioner Hunt said as an initial step, she would work with Jarvis Crawford to develop a template to determine the concerns of Desert Highland Gateway Estates Community. Commissioner Rankins said he would attend the Desert Highland Gateway Estates Community Action Association meetings and introduce himself. Commissioner Zendle suggested Commissioner Hunt arrange for Commissioners to attend the Desert Highland Gateway Estates meeting to give a brief presentation about what the Commission is and what it does and listen to what they think the Commission can help them with. Commissioner Severin said depending on what comes out of that discussion, it could be brought up to the City Manager when he attends the July HRC meeting. 9.D Diversity Training/Cultural Proficiency -- Commissioner Severin said the National Conflict Resolution Center in San Diego is a fantastic training resource. She inquired if they are doing any training on diversity and cultural proficiency. She received information about a workshop entitled The Art of Inclusive Communication. She asked Commissioners to review the information and keep it in mind as an example of a training resource. Chair Wilson Barton asked Commissioner Severin to discuss this with Vice Chair Newby who played a key role in bringing the Cultural Humility training to the City. Human Rights Commission Minutes Page 3 of 3 Meeting of April 13, 2015 3 9.E Mediation Services Update: Commissioner Severin said she is pleased that mediation is on the City Manager’s mind. As a next step, Chair Wilson Barton asked her for a short, written outline that can be given to the City Manager. Chair Wilson Barton said mediation will be of most use to the City if it can help them with the bottleneck of neighbor disputes – barking dogs, noise, overgrown brush, etc. Commissioner Zendle voiced his hesitation with this being a main function of the HRC. 9.F Upcoming topics and focus of Commission - Commissioner Chandrasena said for the May meeting, one guest speaker will be Kathy Little, Special Education Director for the Palm Springs Unified School District and the other will be from the Braille Institute. In June, Ralph Gonzalez from the Desert AIDS Project, will speak about AIDS/HIV in the youth population in Palm Springs. In July City Manager David Ready will speak with the Commission and July is also when the Commission elects its Chair and Vice Chair. 9.G Review of the Commission’s Participation at the Palm Springs Neighborhood Involvement Committee’s Picnic & Community Expo, Saturday, March 28, 2015 – Staff thank the Commission for its participation in the event and said the Commission received a thank you letter from PSNIC, now ONE-PS. . It was estimated that 1,000 people attended. 10. STUDENT COMMENTS: None 11. COMMISSIONER COMMENTS: Regarding Thomi Clinton’s public comment, Commissioner Sutton-Weiss asked what the next step should be. Commissioner Zendle suggested putting the Transgender Day of Remembrance Vigil in November on the HRC agenda and asked if the Commission wants to agendize a presentation on gender neutral bathrooms and what the City can do about it. Chair Wilson Barton suggested this be a topic for the October meeting. Commissioner Severin distributed the homeless data report from the County of Riverside count that took place at the end of January. She said the number of unsheltered homelessness went down 17 percent; however, the number for Palm Springs went up. But overall there was improvement, she said. Chair Wilson Barton said she was invited to speak to the City Manager of Cathedral City because they are interested in establishing a Human Rights Commission. She said they are considering a seven-member commission that would meet every other month and focus on mediation. 12. STAFF COMMENTS: Staff said $1,604.92 remains in the HRC’s budget, not counting the $500 committed earlier in the meeting to the Harvey Milk Diversity Breakfast or $155.87 to be spent for volunteer insurance. 13. AGENDA ITEMS FOR THE MAY 11, 2015 HRC MEETING: These were discussed earlier in the meeting. 13. ADJOURNMENT: The meeting was adjourned at 4:06 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Lee A. Bonno Staff Human Rights Commission Liaison Director of Neighborhood & Community Relations