Human Relations Commission

Human Relations Commission Meeting: HRC Minutes Meeting #16 Wednesday, March 22, 2023 / 6 PM ACC Planning Department ACCGov Staff in Attendance: 1. Niki Jones (he/him) - Assistant Manager, Manager’s Office 2. Dr. Remy Epps (she/her) - Inclusion Officer, Inclusion Office 3. Gino Cyrus (he/him) - Marketing & Outreach Analyst, Inclusion Office 4. Cameron McGlothen (he/him) - Equity & Engagement Coordinator, Inclusion Office HRC Members in attendance: 1. Julita Sanders (she/her) 2. Callie Moore (she/her) 3. Danielle Gillmer (she/her) 4. Cameron Jay Harrelson (he/him) 5. Ed Moore (he/him) 6. Tucker Duval (he/him) 7. Brandon Baker (he/him) 8. Sharon McDaniel-Miller (she/her) Inclusion Office THE UNIFIED GOVERNMENT OF ATHENS-CLARKE COUNTY, GEORGIA P. O. Box 1868 ∙ Athens, Georgia 30603 (706) 613-3015 ∙ Email: inclusionoffice@accgov.com www.accgov.com  9. Tameka Curry (she/her) 10. Myung Cogan (she/her) 11. Darius Binion (he/him) 12. Megan Westbrook (she/her) HRC Members who were not in attendance: 13. Ke’Marcis Howard (he/him) 14. Alejandra Villegas Lopez (she/her) 15. Jayivey Brown (she/they) Non-Members who were in attendance: 16. Torin Smith (he/him) - media 17. Ashlyn Carroll (she/her) – media 18. Landon Knight (she/her) – media 19. Dana Allen (she/her) – media 20. Sarah Scothorn (she/her) – media 21. Paige Clarke (she/her) – media 22. Kendall Kelly (she/her) – media 23. Lori Johnston (she/her) – media 24. Jackson Rowland (he/him) – media 25. Nadine Muhammad (Callie Moore’s Nurse) Inclusion Office THE UNIFIED GOVERNMENT OF ATHENS-CLARKE COUNTY, GEORGIA P. O. Box 1868 ∙ Athens, Georgia 30603 (706) 613-3015 ∙ Email: inclusionoffice@accgov.com www.accgov.com  26. Nneka Omoma (attended with Callie Moore) Minutes • Chairwoman Sanders called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. • Chair asked for approval of the agenda. Myung made a motion to accept. Ed seconded. The entire body raised their hands in consensus to approve the agenda. The motion passed. • Chair asked for approval of the 2-22-23 meeting minutes. Sharon made a motion to approve. Cameron Jay seconded. The entire body raised their hands in consensus to approve the minutes. • Chair stated that she does not have an update. • No public comment on Old Business. • Chair went over the work plan with the body. The following was agreed upon in the work plan: • A general consensus was made to implement recommendation to improve resident accessibility that are within the scope of the HRC and develop and implement a communication strategy for residents pertaining to the NDO by December 2023. • A general consensus was made to develop an action plan for raising community awareness of the HRC by December 2023. Inclusion Office THE UNIFIED GOVERNMENT OF ATHENS-CLARKE COUNTY, GEORGIA P. O. Box 1868 ∙ Athens, Georgia 30603 (706) 613-3015 ∙ Email: inclusionoffice@accgov.com www.accgov.com  • The “Access the accessibility of the Unlawful Discrimination Ordinance and identify recommendation to improve resident accessibility” activity/initiative was marked as complete. • The milestone “Plan to strategically host town hall meetings” was added to the “Strategically coordinate stakeholder outreach activities” initiative. • “Ongoing” is the estimated timeframe for completion for the “Determine policy recommendation for 2024 based on community input, outreach, and the needs assessment” activity/initiative. • Megan stated that this work plan seems like a good start to a living document, but she doesn’t feel satisfied with where it stands at this time. So, Megan said she wanted to ensure that her vote is not saying that this is the concrete and static document, but instead just the start of the document. • Chair confirmed that this vote is not concrete. Niki stated that these focus areas could be presented to Mayor and Commission as is, or the HRC could wait another month to flesh them out. Niki let them know that eventually the HRC’s work plan has to be shared with Mayor and Commission. • Danielle stated that the body should work within their subcommittees for another month, because the work plan as it stands is just a good starting point. Inclusion Office THE UNIFIED GOVERNMENT OF ATHENS-CLARKE COUNTY, GEORGIA P. O. Box 1868 ∙ Athens, Georgia 30603 (706) 613-3015 ∙ Email: inclusionoffice@accgov.com www.accgov.com • Megan asked if they would be voting on the focus areas and wait until next month to vote on milestones, timeline, etcetera. Niki replied that they could. • Cameron Jay stated that he would like for the focus areas, not with the extra details discussed, to be submitted to the Mayor and Commission. Megan asked if one of them should make a motion to vote on the focus areas listed in this work plan. Chair replied yes. • Niki asked if the body is okay with the activities and initiatives from the work plan as is being shared with Mayor and Commission. Megan responded that she’d like to meet with her subcommittee (Recommendation Policy) before this is presented to Mayor and Commission. Cameron Jay stated that the activities and initiatives should be approved because they are generic, unlike the milestones. • Cameron Jay made a motion to approve the activities and initiatives of the work plan. Danielle seconded. Megan made a motion to amend Cameron Jay’s motion, only to switch the first activity for the policy committee (within the work plan) to identify topic areas related to the work of the HRC, rather than determine what is controlled at the local level and state level. Sharon iterated that the timing of Megan’s amendment isn’t in alignment with Robert’s Rules of Order. • Chair stated that they will take a vote in favor of Cameron Jay’s motion, as amended by Megan. All were in favor. Inclusion Office THE UNIFIED GOVERNMENT OF ATHENS-CLARKE COUNTY, GEORGIA P. O. Box 1868 ∙ Athens, Georgia 30603 (706) 613-3015 ∙ Email: inclusionoffice@accgov.com www.accgov.com • Danielle made a motion to vote on for flags to be flown on the following dates. • Pride flag: June 1st – 16th • Juneteenth flag: June 16th – June 30th • Tameka seconded for the vote on the Pride and Juneteenth flags. All were in favor. The motion passed. • Chair requested for a copy of Homer Wilson’s recommendations to be sent over to the HRC. Dr. Epps replied yes. • Chair informed the body that Fred Smith agreed to come to the Morton Theatre on June 8th to speak about Juneteenth. She also said the Athens Historical Society usually has an awards ceremony centered around Juneteenth, so they’ll be involved on June 8th as well. • Dr. Epps recommended for the body to keep in mind that their spending should be equitable. • Cameron Jay asked for an outline for the budget. Chair stated that a 20k budget is specifically set out for Juneteenth, which can only go through Leisure Services. Chair clarified that funds for Pride would be separate from Juneteenth funds. Niki confirmed that this is true, while stating how difficult it was to navigate 19 days of Juneteenth events last year. • Danielle asked if navigating the budget would be brought back to the body. • Chair requested the list of items for the next full HRC meeting: Inclusion Office THE UNIFIED GOVERNMENT OF ATHENS-CLARKE COUNTY, GEORGIA P. O. Box 1868 ∙ Athens, Georgia 30603 (706) 613-3015 ∙ Email: inclusionoffice@accgov.com www.accgov.com  • HRC swag (coming from the Inclusion Office budget) • Just as Chair was about to make a motion, Danielle stated that she would like to see the recommendations before voting. Chair agreed. • Chair stated that the Community Outreach subcommittee recommends that the HRC holds a banner and tables at Pride on June 3rd. Cameron Jay responded that the HRC should table this recommendation, in sake of equity. • Chair said the Community Outreach subcommittee meets next week where details can be narrowed down. She then said an email can be sent out to the entire HRC with the narrowed down recommendations. • Myung wondered if paraphernalia included educational collateral. Danielle responded yes. • Chair recommended that someone from PIO and the Attorney’s Office attend the Unlawful Discrimination meeting. • Danielle asked if a special called meeting would have to take place in order to have an official vote prior to the April meeting. Niki replied yes. Ed and Danielle requested for an online version of the Special Called meeting. • Cameron Jay asked for meetings, especially this upcoming Special Called meeting, to be scheduled at least five days in advance. Inclusion Office THE UNIFIED GOVERNMENT OF ATHENS-CLARKE COUNTY, GEORGIA P. O. Box 1868 ∙ Athens, Georgia 30603 (706) 613-3015 ∙ Email: inclusionoffice@accgov.com www.accgov.com • Chair announced that at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, April 4 there will be an HRC Special Called meeting. A general consensus was made for this meeting to happen. • Chair discussed by-laws for subcommittees. Megan stated that any member who misses more than three meetings is subject to removal. Cameron Jay asked if that removal is from the committee or the entire body. Chair confirmed if a member misses three consecutive full HRC meetings, then that member is subject to removal from the HRC. Chair also stated that if one misses three subcommittee meetings consecutively then they are subject to removal from that subcommittee. Thus, subcommittee and full HRC meeting attendance is separate. • Megan asked if the severity of the absences changes if a member is removed or not. Chair provided the example of someone being hospitalized, as to why a HRC member wouldn’t be removed. Dr. Epps said that removal would boil down to what is written in the by- laws. • Chair stated that it is up to each subcommittee to choose their meeting frequency. Danielle responded that there should be a meeting minimum in a certain duration of time for subcommittees. Chair recommended at least two subcommittee meetings before every main subcommittee meeting. Ed stated he’d prefer one subcommittee meeting to be the minimum. Niki stated that the meeting frequency of subcommittees doesn’t have to be in the by-laws, but rather a practice of the HRC. Inclusion Office THE UNIFIED GOVERNMENT OF ATHENS-CLARKE COUNTY, GEORGIA P. O. Box 1868 ∙ Athens, Georgia 30603 (706) 613-3015 ∙ Email: inclusionoffice@accgov.com www.accgov.com • Chair stated that subcommittee leaders need to be established. The body agreed that subcommittees should determine who the subcommittee leaders are. Chair stated that a backup would likely be needed for subcommittee leaders as well. • In regards to HRC branding recommendations, Dr. Epps stated that the Inclusion Office will not create a logo for the HRC. However, the HRC can create their own logo. Dr. Epps said there are cautions in creating that logo. Dr. Epps invited all to ask branding questions, which she offered to forward to PIO. Megan asked if the Inclusion Office would create the branding for HRC. • Niki stated that all branding has to be done within the limitations of what is done on the Inclusion Office’s Instagram account (@athenstogether). Niki reiterated that the Inclusion Office cannot make the HRC an elaborate logo. Niki stated that one of his passions is speaking with PIO about branding. Niki said that PIO’s challenge is that whatever we do with the HRC has to be done with all other BACs. There are a total of 60 BACs in ACC Gov. • Chair stated that a logo for the HRC may create confusion. • No announcements were made. • Chair made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Danielle seconded. The meeting concluded at 7:13 p.m. Inclusion Office THE UNIFIED GOVERNMENT OF ATHENS-CLARKE COUNTY, GEORGIA P. O. Box 1868 ∙ Athens, Georgia 30603 (706) 613-3015 ∙ Email: inclusionoffice@accgov.com www.accgov.com