EQUAL RIGHTS COMMISSION

200 E. Wells Street City of Milwaukee Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53202 Meeting Minutes - Final EQUAL RIGHTS COMMISSION CHAIR: VACANT VICE CHAIR: TONY SNELL Mayhoua Moua, Nathan Guequierre, Martha Collins, Jennifer Bennett, William Crowley, and Jessica Boling Staffing: Jessica Langill, 414.286.5532, jlangi@milwaukee.gov Wednesday, October 21, 2020 4:30 PM Virtual Meeting This meeting is being held virtually through GoToMeeting. Join by the web at https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/131181029 or by phone at 1 (408) 650-3123. Use access code: 131-181-029. 1 Call to Order Meeting called to order at 4:33PM 2 Roll Call Tony Snell - present Martha Collins - present Mayhoua Moua - present Nathan Guequierre - present Jennifer Bennett - present Jessica Boling - present William Crowley - absent 3 Approval of Minutes from September 9th, 2020 Tabled until next meeting City of Milwaukee Page 1 EQUAL RIGHTS COMMISSION Meeting Minutes - Final October 21, 2020 4 Role of ERC & Next Steps Commissioner Snell will be taking on the Acting Chair position. Commissioner Snell stated that the ERC is appointed by the Mayor and receives its oversight power from the Common Council. He shared that it is important to maintain relationships with the CC, Mayor's Office, and other City Departments. Commissioner Moua stated that the ERC will continue to move forward on all of the work it has lined up. Commissioner Collins stated she needs more direction on the role of the Compliance & Enforcement Committee and the Commission as a whole. She requested more guidance from the Mayor's Office and/or Common Council. Commissioner Snell stated the ERC focus is the people, and the ERC must find out what role it plays to support and protect the people. 5 Common Council Legislation Update Commissioner Snell stated he has connected with the City Clerk about the resolutions and The Crown Act has been picked up by Alderman Hamilton and will be discussed at the upcoming Judiciary & Legislation Committee meeting. Commissioner Collins will testify on behalf of the ERC. Commissioner Snell stated that the cashless ban and changes to Chapter 109 have not been taken up by the Common Council. He asked that these issues be sent back to the ERC for further internal and external discussion, in addition to finding sponsors for the legislation. He advised that it is important to show community buy-in before moving legislation forward. Commissioner Guequierre agreed and stated that the ERC needs to do more work to build consensus and hear more voices before pushing something forward. No objections. City of Milwaukee Page 2 EQUAL RIGHTS COMMISSION Meeting Minutes - Final October 21, 2020 6 Vice Chair Election With Commissioner Snell moving to the Acting Chair role, a Vice Chair election is needed. The City Clerk, Jim Owczarski, led the nominations & voting process for the role of Vice Chair. Commissioner Moua nominated Commissioner Guequirre, who declined. Commissioner Guquierre nominated Commissioner Moua, who declined. Commissioner Bennett nominated Commissioner Collins. Commissioner Collins nominated Commissioner Bennett. Commissioner Bennett: 2 votes Commissioner Collins: 3 votes Commissioner Guequierre made a motion for unanimous appointment of Commissioner Collins to the Vice Chair. Unanimously appointed. Commissioner Snell asked Commissioner Bennett to become the Chair of the Compliance & Enforcement Committee since Commissioner Collins is now Vice Chair. Commissioner Bennett accepted. 7 New Commissioner Update Commissioner Snell stated that the nominations for new Commissioners has been passed along to the Mayor's Office. The Mayor's Office stated that they will do new appointments after the budget approval. City of Milwaukee Page 3 EQUAL RIGHTS COMMISSION Meeting Minutes - Final October 21, 2020 8 Committee Updates Communications Committee: Will focus on implementing a process for internal communication among Commissioners. Commissioner Guequierre stated a survey will go out to Commissioners asking for preferred communication ideas. Outreach & Education Committee: Pausing on creating the outreach toolkit until there is a stronger plan on how to build internal and external partnerships. The Human Rights Day event will be held virtually on December 12th. Key note speakers include: the Director of ACLU International, the President of LULAC, and Reggie Jackson. There will also be bi-weekly virtual community discussions leading up to the event. Compliance & Enforcement: On hold waiting on more direction from the Mayor's Office about the role of the Committee and the potential appointment of an Equity Officer and a creation of an Office of Equity. The Committee has been planning on surveying 3-4 City Departments on their compliance with the Racism as a Public Health Crisis resolution. The Data Analyst from DOA will be assisting with the collection of this data. There has also been work put in to creating an online portal for complaint intake. The ERC received a complaint from the NAACP stating the City has not been complying with Chapter 355. Ben Roovers stated the ERC does not have the authority to respond to this complaint. Commissioner Snell stated he would be talking with DOA and the Assistant City Attorney about asking the City Department responsible for this to report to the ERC. The ERC received a complaint regarding offensive decorations, but Ben Roovers stated the ERC does not have authority to respond to this complaint. 9 Community Dialogue & Upcoming Events Commissioner Snell talked about early voting and the right to vote. Commissioner Guequierre stated that there is a reading group starting through the American Holocaust Museum. 10 Next Full Commission Meeting: Wednesday, November 18th, 2020 Meeting will start at 5:30PM 11 Adjourn Meeting adjourned at 5:38pm Upon reasonable notice, efforts will be made to accommodate the needs of persons with disabilities through sign language interpreters or auxiliary aids. For additional information or to request this service, contact the City Clerk's Office ADA Coordinator at 286-2998, (FAX)286-3456, (TDD)286-2025 or by writing to the Coordinator at Room 205, City Hall, 200 E. Wells Street, Milwaukee, WI 53202. City of Milwaukee Page 4 EQUAL RIGHTS COMMISSION Meeting Minutes - Final October 21, 2020 Persons engaged in lobbying as defined in s. 305-43-4 of the Milwaukee Code of Ordinances are required to register with the City Clerk's Office License Division. Registered lobbyists appearing before a Common Council committee are required to identify themselves as such. More information is available at http://city.milwaukee.gov/Lobbying. City of Milwaukee Page 5