Human Relations Commission

MINUTES DeKalb Human Relations Commission May 5, 2015 CALL TO ORDER: Chairman Norden Gilbert called the May 5, 2015 meeting of the DeKalb Human Relations Commission (HRC) to order at 6:39 p.m. ROLL CALL: Present: Norden Gilbert, Ellingsworth Webb, Larry Apperson, Robert Williams (arrived at 7:05 p.m.), Joe Gastiger, Lisa King Absent: None Also Present: Bessie Chronopoulos, Citizen, Patty Hoppenstedt, Assistant City Manager and Staff Liaison, Mary Jo Harms, City Staff, Julie Abraham, City Staff APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Minutes were not presented for approval. It is the goal of City staff to have minutes up to date by June 1, 2015. OLD BUSINESS: A. Report from Sub-Committee on HRC Conducting Community Group Meetings Mr. Webb will send Julie Abraham, City Staff, the dates for the Beloved Community events who will then forward to all committee members. The original idea for the community group meetings was to have various meetings for community input and ideas. Further research indicated these types of meetings were already taking place in the community; therefore, the committee would like to change the focus to having information available for the community. Future agenda items will be titled “Promotion of Diversity Programming” when discussing this project. Mr. Webb continues to work on the literature. 1 B. Discussion on Revision of Mission Statement At the April 7, 2015 meeting, a motion was made and passed to adopted version four of the proposed revised mission statement. The revised mission statement will read: To foster a community that respects and supports the diversity and dignity of all people and promotes building strong relationships between its diverse citizens, groups and organizations. Chairman Gilbert will write a letter of recommendation to the City Manager to amend Chapter 49.06 of the Municipal Code to include the mission statement. C. Update on Municipal Code Recommendations for Non-Discrimination Statement Chairman Gilbert contacted Management Analyst, Lauren Stott, with HRC recommendations for the City’s website. The recommendations are: 1. List social services agency information and include services offered. 2. Placing the non-discriminatory statement on the website. See below for more discussion on placement. 3. Website available in English and Spanish. Management Analyst Stott stated the City is working on #1. The City is looking to the HRC for suggestions regarding the placement. Ideally the commission would like the non- discriminatory statement prominently displayed on the home page and in the near future create a landing page with HRC information which will also include the non-discriminatory statement. Mr. Apperson stated he believes the City is not currently displaying the non-discriminatory statement well. While it’s included in the Municipal Code, if someone is to do a search on the City’s website, nothing will show up in the search. Mr. Apperson stated the City of Aurora’s website is a good example. After speaking with Management Analyst Stott regarding the HRC website recommendations, Assistant City Manager Hoppenstedt will present an update to the commission at the next meeting. Chairman Gilbert wants Assistant City Manager Hoppenstedt to speak with City Manager Gaura and City Attorney Frieders about the visibility of the non-discriminatory statement in the Municipal Code. His suggestion is to add the statement in the First Chapter, General Provision. 2 Assistant City Manager Hoppenstedt informed the HRC that City staff have recently completed non-discriminatory trainings and must complete refresher courses every three (3) years. Additionally, the City is developing a Personnel Manual which will include appropriate policies. Mr. Gastiger inquired if the City’s website is Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliant. Assistant City Manager Hoppenstedt stated the new website will be in compliance with the ADA. Mr. Webb inquired if there is a program available to convert the website from English to another language. Assistant City Manager Hoppenstedt stated there is and they have used it to convert to Spanish and it worked well. There will be many languages to select from on the new website. D. Discussion and Review of Models for Re-Entry of Ex-Offenders Robert Williams spoke about the number of ex-offenders released regularly and that they typically return to the area where their relatives live. Mr. Williams would like to see the City and the community get ahead of the re-entry into society instead of falling behind by offering services to these citizens. He inquired if the other committee members are aware of any social service agency serving this population. The County jail and drug court works with integrating these citizens safely into the communities but none were aware of any specific social service agency offering these services. Chairman Gilbert asked Mr. Williams if there are any templates from other cities. Mr. Williams stated he will bring examples/models to share with the committee. Mr. Gastiger suggested speaking with Networking for Families as there are many social service agencies involved in that group. In addition, Mr. Gastiger spoke about the distribution of social services in DeKalb and the office location of each being spread out. It would be nice if all social service agencies could meet 1-2 times a month in one location. This will allow a citizen to take transportation to one place and complete their needs. Mr. Apperson spoke of the experiences Kishwaukee College had with this integration as well as other scenarios. Mr. Webb spoke of budget cuts and he prefers the services not be placed on one social service agency, he would like social services agencies to share resources/information. Mr. Williams would like the City to be a leader in establishing services or a program along with the County. Ms. King stated DeKalb Township should be included as well. Assistant City Manager Hoppenstedt asked Mr. Williams to provide the examples/models of programs from other communities so that the HRC could make a recommendation to the City. Assistant City Manager Hoppenstedt could then help facilitate a discussion with the appropriate City staff. 3 E. Follow-Up on Service Animals Recommendations Assistant City Manager Hoppenstedt met with City Attorney Frieders. Based on the correspondence, it appears the City Attorney is waiting for a letter outlining a recommendation from the HRC to amend the Municipal Code. Mr. Webb will get the draft to the HRC sub-committee members and a final copy to City Attorney Frieders in the next week. In addition, a brochure will be created and shared with landlords from the HRC. The purpose of the brochure is to inform landlords of the definition of service animal. F. Community Member Recognition Mr. Webb inquired if the committee submitted Cheryl Appleton’s recognition. Assistant City Manager Hoppenstedt believes it had been but will double check. Administrative Assistant, Julie Abraham, will start taking minutes for the HRC meetings. Mary Jo Harms, City staff liaison, will no longer be attending HRC meetings. Mr. Webb stated the HRC will miss Mary Jo and thanked her for the work she has done. Mr. Webb would like to submit Mary Jo Harms to receive recognition of the work she has done for the HRC. NEW BUSINESS: A. City Website This is inclusive of website discussion held under Old Business C. Update on Municipal Code Recommendations for Non-Discrimination Statement. CITIZEN INPUT: Citizen Bessie Chronopoulos was in attendance and stated it was neat to see the HRC active. She believes this committee can be a catalyst for making connections with social issues, governmental entities and others. Ms. Chronopoulos believes constant communication is important and needs to continue. In regards to the City website, she stated it would be nice to have boards and commissions displayed more prominently. She would also like to see the member’s listed. Ms. Chronopoulos believes the boards and commission are being under-utilized. Ms. Chronopoulos asked Assistant City Manager Hoppenstedt to let City Manager Gaura know minutes of meetings need to be published quicker. Minutes are a good source of information. 4 Ms. Chronopoulos asked if the HRC and the Disabilities Commission can be combined. She believes the Disabilities Commission has not been meeting regularly. Ms. King asked why the Disabilities Commission has not had regular meeting. Ms. Chronopoulos thinks it’s due to lack of City leadership. Mr. Webb stated he believes the HRC role is larger than the Disabilities Commission’s. If combined, it may make for a too large of a commission. He suggested an occasional joint meeting and also stated perhaps they need new commission member(s) to revitalize the commission. Mr. Webb places no blame on neither the City nor the Disabilities Commission but would like the commission members to speak up about wanting to meet. Ms. King believes there are some challenges due to the definition of disabilities and the difference roles both committees play. She has reservations on combining the committees. HRC asked Assistant City Manager Hoppenstedt to speak with Jamie Smirz, City Staff Liaison for the Disabilities Commission, and find out what those committee members need and want. OTHER: Mr. Gastiger shared a flyer for a Family Forum for Tornado Victims. ADJOURNMENT: A motion was made by Committee Member Apperson and seconded by Committee Member Webb to adjourn the meeting at 8:34 p.m. 5