Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2015-05-11 HRC minutes Draft HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION of the City of Palm Springs Minutes from May 11, 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 X 0 X X X X 0 10 7 7 9 8 9 10 7 8 8 3 0 3 2 0 1 1 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 May 11, 2015 1. Chair Wilson Barton called the meeting to order at 3:01 p.m. 2. Student representative Maddie Barton led the flag salute. 3. Commissioner Severin recited the Mission Statement. 4. Commissioners Present: Chandrasena, Hunt, Newby, Severin, Sutton-Weiss, Wilson Barton and Zendle. Student representative Maddie Barton was also present. Commissioners Absent: Brown and Rankins both excused. 5. POSTING OF THE AGENDA: The agenda was posted in accordance with the Brown Act on or before 4 p.m., on May 7, 2015. 6. PUBLIC COMMENT: Eyron Ike Rosenberg said he is a victim of electronic monitoring that he said is apparently occurring in the City for some time and he asked that it be stopped. 7. GUEST SPEAKER:  Lisa M. Jimenez, Executive Director of the Braille Institute of American in Rancho Mirage, provided background about that non-profit organization which provides programs for people with low vision to no vision. The organization’s main focus, she said, was to give people back their independence. The organization serves three counties and has about 100 volunteers – a ratio of 13 to 1 (13 volunteers to every 1 staff member.) She outlined the organization’s classes, programs and services, which are free.  Kathy Little, Special Education Director, Palm Springs Unified School District, spoke about the services and programs provided. About 10 percent of the students have a disability, she said. They are trying to move toward more full inclusion, rather than putting the students in special classes, she said. They find that students graduate at a higher rate, she said, if they are more fully included. Programs are available for preschoolers – children as young as 3. 8. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES FROM THE APRIL 13, 2015 MEETING: Following a motion from Commissioner Severin and second by Commissioner Sutton-Weiss, the minutes from the April 13, 2015 HRC meeting were approved 6-0 (Commissioner Newby abstained because he didn’t attend the meeting and Commissioners Brown and Rankins were absent). Human Rights Commission Minutes Page 2 of 3 Meeting of May 11, 2015 2 9. ITEMS FOR DISCUSSION/AND OR VOTE 9.A Attending a meeting of the Desert Highland Gateway Estates Community Action Association – Commissioner Hunt said the next meeting is Tuesday, June 9 at 6:30 p.m. Commissioner Zendle said the purpose of attending the meeting is to introduce the HRC and the work of the Commission and to listen to human rights concerns from the community that relate to the Commission. Chair Wilson Barton and Commissioner Severin said they would attend the June 9 meeting. Commissioner Hunt said she would take care of getting it on the Community Action Association’s agenda. She’ll forward the agenda to staff and staff will email it to the Commission so other Commissioners will have the details should they want to attend the meeting. 9.B Harvey Milk Diversity Breakfast May 22 – Commissioner Severin asked for a list of Commissioners who want to attend and that registration begins at 8:45 a.m. that Friday, May 22, with the program beginning at 9:30 a.m. Commissioners Severin, Wilson Barton, Newby, Chandrasena, Sutton-Weiss and Zendle indicated they would attend. Commissioner Severin will check with Commissioners Rankins and Brown, who were not at the meeting, to see if they would be attending. If there are seats remaining at the Commission’s table, Commissioner Severin will email staff about their availability. 9.C Participation in the Transgender Day of Remembrance Vigil on Nov. 20, 2015 – This item was tabled. 9.D Discuss having a presentation on gender neutral bathrooms at the Oct. 12, 2015 meeting – Commissioner Sutton-Weiss said she would take the lead on this topic and Commissioner Hunt said she would work with her to find out how the issue is dealt with in schools. 9.E Diversity Training/Cultural Proficiency -- Commissioner Severin handed out a workshop proposal at the last meeting from the National Conflict Resolution Center in San Diego. The class is entitled “The Art of Inclusive Conversation.” Commissioner Severin said she has a long association with the Resolution Center and it is a valuable resource with a lot to offer. Vice Chair Newby said he likes the proposal and the deliverables – accomplishment, collaborative communications and interaction. He said to do this broadly it would need the buy in from the City Manager. If the Commission decides to go ahead with the workshop, he suggested inviting members of the other Commissions as well as members of the Police Advisory Board. He said he would also like to know from Perry Madison, the City’s Director of Human Resources, what follow-up is planned for the diversity training/cultural humility training that was done. Vice Chair Newby said he thinks it is a great proposal, it is just how and when the Commission wants to implement it. Commissioner Severin said the Resolution Center is willing to work with the Commission regarding funding. Chair Wilson Barton referred to a L.A. Times story headlined, “Anti-bias training for police is just a start.” Vice Chair Newby is to follow up with Mr. Madison to find out the status of cultural diversity/cultural humility, anti-bias training within the City of Palm Springs. Vice Chair Newby said for him, the “take home” of this kind of training is that a person’s mind makes some sort of judgment within the first few seconds about people that we meet. The issue is not so much that people’s minds make that judgment, he said, but that people recognize that they are making that judgment and that it really isn’t based on anything and moving forward, getting beyond that and getting to know the real person. Commissioner Severin said the June 9 meeting of the Desert Highland Gateway Estates Community Action Association might be a catalyst for some inclusiveness training depending on what comes out of the meeting. Commissioner Zendle said there is both o vert and covert bias and there is also personal bias as well as institutional bias. He said those four corners need to be addresses when there is education about bias and prejudice and racism. 9.F Mediation Services Update: Commissioner Severin said there was no change from last month. Chair Wilson Barton and Commissioner Severin will discuss moving this forward. This topic was included in the Commission’s annual report received by the City Council May 6. 9.G “We've Come Too Far to be Treated Like This”, a special presentation on Seniors and Aging in Society Today, jointly sponsored by the Riverside County Office on Aging, Palm Springs Human Rights Commission and Mizell Senior Center, held May 7 – Vice Chair Newby said about 49 persons signed in at the event. Additionally a representative from Rep. Eduardo Garcia ’ office attended, which also provides some follow-up with his office regarding some legislative initiatives that could be taken, Vice Chair Newby said. He covered some of the high points of the presentation, including the growth of the older adult Human Rights Commission Minutes Page 3 of 3 Meeting of May 11, 2015 3 population in Riverside County and the center of that growth is Palm Springs and the Coachella Valley. In less than 10 to 12 years, he said, the area probably will see a 440 percent increase in people living over the age of 85. What is being seen, he said, is after people retire at age 6 5, they move into other careers and one of the areas of bias that comes out is in employment for older adults. He said that some of the language we use, such as having “a senior moment” for example, is not conducive to respect and understanding of older adults. 9.H Upcoming topics and focus of Commission – At the June HRC meeting, Ralph Gonzalez from the Desert AIDS Project, will speak about AIDS/HIV as it relates to the youth population in Palm Springs. In July City Manager David Ready will speak with the Commission about how the HRC can help the City and how the City can help the HRC. July is also when the Commission elects its Chair and Vice Chair. The Commission does not meet in August. In September the Commission holds its planning meeting, typically on a Saturday. The dates of Sept. 12 and 19 were suggested. This will be a topic on the June 8 agenda. 10. STUDENT COMMENTS: Student representative Maddie Barton reported that high school science teachers have delivered four lessons on cyber safety to ninth graders. Digicom, held May 5, also had several videos on the topic of bullying, she said. 11. COMMISSIONER COMMENTS: Commissioner Les Zendle said he will not be at the June 8 meeting, which makes this his last Commission meeting. He thanked everyone and said he has had a wonderful experience being on the Commission. He added that he has learned a lot and that it has been very enriching. Palm Springs is very lucky to have a Human Rights Commission with dedicated Commissioners, he said, adding that the Commission is lucky to have a City like Palm Springs that supports the Commission. Other Commissioners thanked Commissioner Zendle for his service t o the Commission. Chair Wilson Barton said that Kelli Martin will be the new student representative from Raymond Cree Middle School. 12. STAFF COMMENTS: None 13. AGENDA ITEMS FOR THE JUNE 8, 2015 HRC MEETING: These were discussed earlier in the meeting. 13. ADJOURNMENT: The meeting was adjourned at 4:02 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Lee A. Bonno Staff Human Rights Commission Liaison Director of Neighborhood & Community Relations to agenize