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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2016-01-11 HRC MinutesHUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION of the City of Palm Springs Minutes from the January 11, 2016 Regular Meeting COMMISSIONERS Present at this Meeting Present FY Year-to-Date FY 2015-16 Excused Absences FY 2015-16 Unexcused Absences Dee Dee Wilson Barton Eduardo Carriazo Jilska Chandrasena Denise Chappell Janel Hunt Jack Newby Wes Rankins Suzanne Severin Deborah Sutton-Weiss Angelina Pinkney, Student Rep Kelli Martin, Student rep. X X X X X X X X 0 X 0 5 5 5 5 6 6 6 6 5 3 0 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 The above roll call record is based on all meeting Minutes from July 13, 2015 thru Jan. 11, 2016 1. Chair Wilson Barton called the meeting to order at 3:05 p.m. 2. Commissioner Chandrasena led the flag salute. 3. Commissioner Severin recited the Mission Statement. 4. Commissioners Present: Wilson Barton, Newby, Carriazo, Chandrasena, Chappell, Hunt (arrived during Public Comments), Rankins, Severin Commissioner Hunt arrived at 3:08p.m. Commissioners Absent: Sutton-Weiss excused Student Representatives: Angelina Pinkney was present but Kelli Martin was absent. 5. POSTING OF THE AGENDA: The agenda was posted in accordance with the Brown Act on or before 4:00 p.m., on Thursday, January 7, 2015. 6. PUBLIC COMMENTS: Three (3) minutes per speaker • Cathy Teal spoke on behalf of the FAIR Foundation, a national 501(c)(3) organization, which has a local office in Palm Desert. Ms. Teal explained that the FAIR Foundation was established to change the way government research money is spent and advocates for individuals who require liver, kidney and/or pancreatic transplant. FAIR is an acronym for Fair Allocations In Research. FAIR holds a monthly support group the second Monday of the month where information, education and emotional support of offered to individuals suffering from liver disease. Ms. Teal noted that a cure for Hepatitis C now exists and the FAIR Foundation advocates that anyone born between 1945 and 1965 with risk factors (transfusion, HIV, IV drug use) be tested for Hepatitis C. 7. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES FROM THE DECEMBER 14, 2015 MEETING: The minutes from the Dec. 14, 2015 HRC meeting were approved 8-0 (Commissioner Sutton-Weiss was absent) following a motion by Vice Chair Newby and second by Commissioner Severin. NOTE: At this time Chair Wilson Barton addressed the lengthy agenda and asked that Commissioners exercise time management in going through items for discussion and/or vote. Human Rights Commission Minutes Page 2 of 5 Meeting of Jan.11, 2016 2 8. ITEMS FOR DISCUSSION / AND OR VOTE: 8.A Community Service Awards Presentation February 8th -- Chair Wilson Barton announced that Mayor Robert Moon will be at the meeting to present the awards this year. Chair Wilson Barton will use a portion of her remarks to do a mini-annual report on the work of the HRC. Lee Bonno will contact Hal Castle who did the photography last year at no charge. Vice Chair Newby made a motion to allocate up to $250 for the cost of photography. The motion received a second from Commissioner Rankins and carried 8-0 (Commissioner Sutton-Weiss was not in attendance. Chair Wilson Barton reminded the Commissioners to greet and make their assigned award recipients comfortable the day of the ceremony. She further asked that the Commissioners to follow up with a thank you note to their assigned recipient. The assignments are as follows: Commissioner Sutton-Weiss Thomi Clinton Commissioner Severin American Legion Post 519 Commissioner Chandrasena Incight Commissioner Rankins Safe House of the Desert Vice Chair Newby Hank Plante Chair Wilson Barton Mark Walthour, Commissioner Cariazzio Dimitri Halkidis Commissioner Hunt Olive Crest (with Angelina Pinkey making the introduction) Chair Wilson Barton asked that the Commissioners be in the City Council Chambers no later than 2:30pm on the day of the award ceremony. Lee Bonno, referring to page 3 of the minutes from the December 14th meeting, asked the Commissioners to review the list of recipients and descriptions of their activities for use in the news release that will be sent out from the City. If there are additions or changes, Commissioners should contact Lee. Chair Wilson Barton noted that she will be creating a flyer announcing the event and reminded the Commissioners to reach out to their communities to invite people to attend. 8.B Possibility of naming a Community Service Award for George Zander – Commissioner Rankins spoke in favor of offering an award in memory of Mr. Zander who was a tireless advocate for human rights. He also noted that he was not thinking that the award be given this year. Vice Chair Newby feels that it might be appropriate to recognize Mr. Zander and dedicate the 2016 award ceremony in his honor. Chair Wilson Barton indicated that she would be making some remarks about George’s life and work in her opening statement. Commissioner Severin asked if it might be possible to let the public know that an award would be given in George’s memory in 2017. Chair Wilson Barton asked that the idea of a George Zander memorial award be on the March 14 agenda along with the criteria for the award. Chair Wilson Barton suggested Commissioner Rankins speak with Commissioner Sutton-Weiss about language she used in proposing that a star be placed along Palm Canyon in Mr. Zander’s memory. 8.C Review/re-strategize the Commission’s outreach efforts -- Chair Wilson Barton requested a review of the status of topics set for the Commission’s calendar. The calendar follows with discussion notes: FEBRUARY 2016: Community Service Awards MARCH 2016: Race Relations Guest Speaker(s): Desert Sun Race Relations Survey Group Coordinated by: Commissioner Carriazo Commissioner Carriazo has not received word back from the Desert Sun’s Survey Group despite several attempts to contact them. Chair Wilson Barton encouraged him to keep trying to make contact so that a presentation could take place if not in March, at another meeting. Chair Wilson Barton noted that she had been contacted by the Anti-Defamation League about giving a presentation to the HRC on the topic of hate crimes and bias incidents specific to the Palm Springs area. She noted that the ADL could come in March for a 5-minute presentation. Commissioner Rankins said the HRC does not need to go to an agency to know what kind of race relations Palm Springs is having. Vice Chair Newby expressed the Human Rights Commission Minutes Page 3 of 5 Meeting of Jan.11, 2016 3 opinion that beginning a dialogue based upon survey facts collected by the Desert Sun was the opportunity to build a broader conversation on race relations in the City. Chair Wilson Barton noted that the ADL would be addressing issues like the George Zander case, bullying in the schools and other bias incidents. Commissioner Rankins clarified his position that gender bias incidents are not the same as incidents based race biases. Commissioner Hunt noted that she understood the topic of race relations to imply more about what is going on in a larger sense with high profile cases of police brutality. She added that the national coverage of these cases has certainly negatively affected her son’s perceptions. Commissioner Carriazo said that race relations are based on issues of discrimination and the purpose of bringing speakers in to offer their expertise and perspective is to give Commissioners guidance and ideas as to ways they can come together and forward the cause. Commissioner Severin suggested that a subcommittee working with Commissioner Carriazo could develop a panel presentation and have community members come forward and share their experiences. Chair Wilson Barton was in favor of developing a panel presentation and suggested that Commissioners Rankins and Hunt might be excellent candidates to be part of the panel. A subcommittee was formed under the direction of Commissioner Carriazo to develop a panel for a future HRC meeting. Members of the subcommittee are Commissioners Hunt and Rankins. Vice Chair Newby expressed his preference to have a high ranking member of the PSPD come to the March HRC meeting to provide a status report from them on the issue of race relations in the City. Commissioner Rankins indicated that he would request the PSPD Chief and/or an officer to address the HRC on race relations at the HRC meeting in March. It was the consensus of the Commission that the ADL would not be presenting in March. APRIL 2016: Equal Access in Education/Government Guest Speaker(s): TBA Coordinated by: Commissioner Hunt and Vice Chair Newby Vice Chair Newby indicated that, for this presentation, it was his intention to be in contact with the City Clerk or someone from his office who can provide the Commission with information on the City’s recruitment practices. Commissioner Hunt will be contacting the Riverside County Office of Education about sending a representative to speak about equal access to honors classes in the school system MAY 2016: Race Relations Panel Guest Speaker(s): TBA Coordinated by: Commissioner Carriazo Veterans offsite event at the American Legion Coordinated by: Commissioner Severin JUNE 2016: LGBT Issues Guest Speaker(s): TBA Coordinated by: Commissioner Sutton-Weiss JULY 2016: Ableism Guest Speaker(s): TBA Coordinated by: Commissioner Chandrasena Chair Barton Wilson was contacted with a list of movies that are human rights specific that could be purchased and shown in the community. Commissioner Severin volunteered to take up this topic with the PS Public Library and will report back at the March meeting. 8.D Commission’s Annual Report -- Chair Wilson Barton and Vice Chair Newby are working on this item and it will be discussed at the March meeting. 8.E Commission’s Proposed Budget -- Copies of the proposed budget were circulated. The budget is based upon discussion at the December 14th meeting. Budget takes into account monies that would be spent by the HRC to promote its activities (award ceremony, movie screenings, etc.); create a banner of the new logo, make business cards, shirts for Commissioners, parade materials. Vice Chair Newby noted that the budget request under consideration is for the 2016-2017 fiscal year. Chair Wilson Barton said she was going to ask for the funds for 2015-16, but the work is done for 2016-17. Human Rights Commission Minutes Page 4 of 5 Meeting of Jan.11, 2016 4 8.F Participating in the Black History Parade on Saturday, Feb. 27 -- Commissioner Hunt will submit the parade application. Chair Wilson Barton’s car will be used in the parade and will provide Commissioner Hunt with all the required information. The script will remain the same. Commissioners who will participate in the parade are: Chair Wilson Barton and Commissioners Rankins; Chappell; Carriazo; Chandrasena and Severin. 8.G Participation in the Organized Neighborhoods of Palm Springs’ 9th Annual Picnic and Community Expo, Saturday, March 19th, 11:00-2:00 in Ruth Hardy Park -- Application for a free booth needs to be filled out. Commissioners who volunteered to assist with the booth are: Vice Chair Newby and Commissioners Rankins; Chappell; Carriazo, Hunt and Severin. Actual shift assignments will be made at the March HRC meeting; 8.H Continued discussion about rent control in Palm Springs – Commissioner Rankins asked that this item be tabled until April or May. Chair Wilson Barton noted the Commissioner Rankins sent a link to a Desert Sun article that was very pertinent to the conversation the HRC is having on rent control. 8.I Community Outreach Update -- Commissioner Severin commented on goals from the September retreat/meeting to expand awareness of the HRC’s work and she noted that her sense was that the HRC had been very successful in this regard. Commissioner Severin expressed the feeling that the community’s awareness of the HRC has increased dramatically in the past several months. Commissioner Rankins announced that the LGBT Center is holding its monthly social on Wednesday, January 22nd at 5:30pm at Oscar’s. 8.J Task Force Reports: Homelessness Task Force – Commissioner Severin, referring to the handout that was distributed at the beginning of the meeting, reviewed the highlights of the December 17th meeting of the Palm Springs Homelessness Task Force meeting. She noted that City has approved two mental health workers who will be working with the police department. She also said there is a tab on the City’s Website for homelessness, which is a resource tool with contact numbers. She further referenced the idea that has been circulating about having a services hub where individuals seeking resources could get them at one location. Next meeting of the Task Force is Thursday, January 28th at 4:00pm in the Large Conference Room. Commissioner Severin further noted the Riverside County Homeless Count is coming up on Tuesday, January, 26. Logo Committee – Commissioners Rankins, Severin and Carriazo: Commissioner Severin noted that the committee will have an update prepared for the March HRC meeting. She noted that the Hollenbeck Group is assisting with developing the logo. This item will be carried forward to the March Meeting. 8.K HRC Public Comment at City Council Meetings – City Staff member Lee Bonno recommended that public comment be made at the February 3rd City Council meeting to note the upcoming Community Service Awards Ceremony scheduled for February 8th. Chair Wilson Barton will attend the February 3rd meeting. Discussion followed about having a slide to appear during the presentations part of the Council meeting announcing the ceremony. Chair Wilson Barton will prepare a flier and forward it to Lee to produce a slide for PSCTV. 8.L Commission’s tentative calendar -- This item was discussed fully under item 8.C – refer to the discussion on pages 2 and 3. 9. STUDENT COMMENTS – There were none at this time. 10. COMMISSIONERS COMMENTS: • Commissioner Rankins noted the PSPD-LGBT Outreach Committee, with both Interim Chief Reyes and Captain Combs, will be having a meet and greet at Chill Bar on Wednesday, January 27th from 5:30- Human Rights Commission Minutes Page 5 of 5 Meeting of Jan.11, 2016 5 6:30pm. In making this announcement, Commissioner Rankins spoke positively about the work of the PSPD-LGBT Outreach Committee’s work and the positive atmosphere/accomplishments it has created. • Chair Wilson Barton noted the Human Rights Campaign’s Annual Equality Index gave Palm Springs a perfect score of 100 on its Municipal Equality Index on how inclusive cities’ laws, policies and services are of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. Commissioner Severin added that the 27th annual Palm Springs International Film Festival has become a worldwide beacon or film makers to come and speak their truth. • Commissioner Chandrasena announced that Commissioner Chappell received a Principal of the Year Award from the Riverside County Office of Education. 12. STAFF COMMENTS: Lee Bonno announced the City’s Ethics Task Force. Applications are to be submitted by 5:00pm on Monday, January 18th. Applicants will want to include their experience in law, legislation, governmental policy, the area of diversity inclusion and grant writing. Chair Wilson Barton noted that Thomi Clinton has been asked to consult with Desert Hot Springs to assist that community in establishing a HRC. Chair Wilson Barton, who has served as Chair of the HRC for 3 years, noted that due to the fact that her business is experiencing an expansion due to mergers and acquisitions she will be stepping off the HRC following the March 2016 meeting. Lee Bonno noted that policy and procedure dictates that Vice Chair Newby will chair the April meeting during which an election for a new HRC Chair will take place. Chair Wilson Barton noted the leadership of Vice Chair Newby. 13. AGENDA ITEMS FOR THE MARCH 14, 2016 HRC MEETING. • Possible George Zander Memorial Award • Human Rights Films/PS Library • Annual Report • Shift Assignments for ONE-PS Picnic/Expo • Logo Design 14. ADJOURNMENT: The meeting was adjourned at 4:10 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Terry Towne Volunteer, Office of Neighborhood & Community Relations Lee A. Bonno Staff Human Rights Commission Liaison Director of Neighborhood & Community Relations