Human Relations Commission

Special Called Meeting #1: Participation in Juneteenth and Pride Celebrations Human Relations Commission Minutes Meeting #18 Tuesday, April 4, 2023 / 6 PM ACC Planning Auditorium – 385 Fairview St, Athens, GA ACCGov Staff in Attendance: 1. Dr. Remy Epps (she/her) - Inclusion Officer, Inclusion Office 2. Gino Cyrus (he/him) - Marketing & Outreach Analyst, Inclusion Office 3. Cameron McGlothen (he/him) - Equity & Engagement Coordinator, Inclusion Office HRC Members in attendance: 1. Julita Sanders (she/her) - Chair 2. Tucker Duval (he/him) 3. Danielle Gillmer (she/her) 4. Cameron Jay Harrelson (he/him) 5. Ed Moore (he/him) 6. Kathleen “Megan” Westbrook (she/her) 7. Tameka Curry (she/her) 8. Sharon McDaniel-Miller (she/her) 9. Darius Binion (he/him) 10. Alejandra Villegas Lopez (she/her)  11. Callie Moore (she/her) HRC Members who were not in attendance: 1. Myung Cogan (she/her) 2. Jayivey Brown (she/they) 3. Brandon Baker (he/him) 4. Ke’Marcis Howard (he/him) Minutes • The meeting was called to order at 6:00 p.m. • Chairwoman Sanders said that the purpose of this meeting is to discuss and vote on the HRC’s participation in Juneteenth and Pride celebrations. • No one from the public was present. No public comment made. • Chair made a motion to have the HRC host an event for the purpose of Juneteenth on Thursday, June 8th at the Morton Theatre. This event will feature Mr. Fred Smith as a keynote speaker, who will speak specifically on Juneteenth’s history. Cameron Jay seconded. The motion passed. • Megan asked if this June 8th event is something the HRC is solely facilitating. Chair responded yes. Chair also stated that this June 8th event will not cost the HRC anything. • Chair repeated to approve the June 8th event at the Morton Theatre with Fred Smith. All were in favor. The motion carried. • Chair made a motion that the HRC will collaborate with Mr. Homer Wilson at the Hot Corner Festival, where the HRC will hosts its own Juneteenth event during this Hot Corner Festival. Chair said the HRC will provide two extra porter potties, one additional misting tint, two additional large fans. Chair said they will have tables, games, food, and other swag items from the HRC specifically for Juneteenth. • Chair said that all of these items will be purchased through Leisure Services. Chair said the Community Outreach subcommittee will narrow down which swag items will be purchased. Tameka seconded. • Chair stated that a total of $5,000 would be allocated to the Hot Corner event. Cameron Jay asked for clarification as to where the $5,000 is coming from. Dr. Epps said the $5,000 is coming out of the Juneteenth $20,000 budget. • Megan requested that swag be given a lot of environmental sustainability considerations. • Ed requested for clarification as to where the remaining funds go to after the $5,000 is distributed to Hot Corner. Chair said that the remaining funds for Juneteenth would be allocated to more than just swag, such as banners and bigger expenses than a table. • Cameron Jay suggested purchasing swag for all events HRC will be participating in. Tameka and Danielle responded that the purchase has to be specifically for Juneteenth. • Chair repeated the adoption of the motion of the HRC collaborating with Mr. Homer Wilson at the Hot Corner Festival, where the HRC will hosts its own Juneteenth event during this Hot Corner Festival. Chair said the HRC will provide two extra porter potties, one additional misting tint, two additional large fans, tables, games, food, and other swag items from the HRC specifically for Juneteenth. All were in favor. The motion carried. • Chair made a motion that the HRC will support Pride month by participating in Pride’s parade, holding the banner and tabling the event with HRC swag. Tameka seconded. • Cameron Jay asked if there is more coming in regards to funding/monetary allocation. Chair responded that the HRC will pay for their table at Pride’s event. Cameron Jay responded that there is a $25 walking group fee. He also stated that there is at least a $100 donation recommended to those who plan to table at Pride. • Cameron Jay asked for the swag budget for Pride. Dr. Epps responded that an allocated budget hasn’t been provided for Pride at the moment. • In the spirit of equity, Cameron Jay requested that the same amount of funds spent on Juneteenth be spent on Pride swag. His second request is that we follow up with Mayor and Commission in regards to other events that represent other marginalized groups. Cameron Jay is wondering what those events are and how many there are. Cameron Jay said that we should equitably distribute next year’s request to the Mayor and Commission to reflect this. • Megan said that she was wondering if the HRC will be present at the flag raising for Juneteenth and Pride. Chair said that the HRC already voted on that. Dr. Epps said these flag recommendations will go in front of Mayor and Commision in May for final approval. • Megan asked what the procedure is for HRC members to attend meetings with the Mayor and Commission, where the final vote for the HRC’s recommendations takes place. Dr. Epps said that Megan’s question is not reflective of the current motion, and recommended to bring this question up later. • Chair repeated the motion of the HRC supporting Pride month by participating in Pride’s parade, holding the banner and tabling the event with HRC swag. All were in favor, with the exception of Cameron Jay abstaining. The motion carried. • In sake of the HRC being equitable, Chair stated that a RFP should have been released in January for a Juneteenth celebration, which would have given people a chance to be a vendor or a stage performer. Since the HRC is trapped for time, Chair said she has decided not to participate in any other 2023 Juneteenth events outside of what was discussed in this meeting. Chair asked if the body had any thoughts, questions, comments, or concerns regarding this. No responses were shared from anyone on the body. • Cameron Jay thanked Chair for her leadership. He said that he’s glad that the raising of the Juneteenth and Pride flags is cohesive this year, especially considering that it was not equitable last year. • Cameron Jay recommended that staff see if the Mayor and Commission can have the rules for flag raising set in stone for each year. Dr. Epps responded that this is not possible because it has to be voted on each year. • Megan repeated her question of how HRC members should show up procedurally to Mayor and Commission meetings. Dr. Epps said she will be going in front of Mayor and Commission to speak on behalf of HRC. The HRC’s final recommendations will be presented as an agenda item at Mayor and Commission meetings. Dr. Epps explained that the Mayor and Commission’s responses will be reported back to the HRC via her. Dr. Epps said all members are welcome to attend Mayor and Commission meetings, but she will be speaking on the HRC’s behalf. • Chair said that several Community Outreach meetings has taken place to come to this final decision. Chair then discussed what they have envisioned for next year. Chair said that RFPs for Juneteenth should be sent out early. Chair also recommended that the people involved with Juneteenth in the past be involved as well, especially the vendors who didn’t know how to fill out applications. To avoid what has happened in the past, Chair recommended courses, facilitated by the ACC, be offered to the same/future Juneteenth vendors so that they can fully understand the process. • Cameron Jay said that he knows that the Athens Downtown Development Authority (ADDA) awards a certain amount of funds (up to $15,000) for events that take place in downtown Athens. He stated that he knows that this fund hasn’t been awarded equitably in the past, so he recommended the HRC look into helping the vendor with this application. • Chair made a motion that the HRC will not facilitate any extra Juneteenth events this year, because of a severe time constraint. Tucker seconded. No discussion. All were in favor. The motion carried. • Ed asked if we need to flesh out equitability with Pride still. Cameron Jay repeated that his current concern is equitability with swag. Cameron Jay also said that Pride has taken place since 1994, which contributes to Pride in receiving the ADDA grant and other opportunities. Cameron Jay said the HRC should work towards making sure other marginalized organizations can apply for such opportunities. • Chair made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Megan seconded. All were in favor. The motion to adjourn the meeting carried. • The meeting adjourned at 6:33 p.m.