Human Rights Commission

City of Morgantown Human Rights Commission Meeting Minutes for November 16, 2017 Present: Jan Derry, Chair Kristen Cooper, Secretary David Saville Judith Wilkinson Marlene Robinson Tim Hariston (Liaison with State HRC) Jacob Powers (Ex-officio Member) Don Spencer (Program Assistant) Meeting called to order by Jan Derry, Chair, at 6:30 PM. The agenda was distributed. There no additions requested. Pubic Session: Two Morgantown residents, Penny Kostka and Nina Forrest attended the meeting as concerned citizens. Penny is a resident of Evansdale and attends several city meetings and works to support diversity in the city. Nina wants to participate in efforts supporting disability in Morgantown – especially autism. She wants human rights to keep on top of the case of the bus driver accused of assault. She is also concerned about low cost housing and has brought suit against a landlord (which was later dropped) but experienced retaliation. Minutes: The minutes for October 2017 were distributed and reviewed with no changes. Marlene Robinson moved to accept the minutes with the changes. The motion was seconded by Judith Wilkinson. The minutes where approved unanimously. Communications: A letter was sent to city council asking the city to support EDNA amendments. We have received no feedback but will probably hear from them at a later date (as has happened in the past). Communication was made with the City Attorney to ensure that the members of the Human Rights Commission are covered for liability, and we were told that the commission is covered. Tim Hariston, on behalf of the State Commission, passed along thanks and congratulations for the recent accomplishments of the Human Rights Commission is getting the Human Rights Ordinance passed. 1 Correspondence was sent the MEI Committee regarding a reported hate crime. The situation was as follows: a crime was identified as a hate crime but was later reclassified, however the Federal report still showed the hate crime, thus the scoring we received on the MEI this year. That score will not change but it will be reported for next year. Gun Violence Awareness Day is coming up on December 14th. The date is designated in memory of the violence in New Town, CT five years ago on that date. The purpose of the day is to make people more aware of gun violence. This led to a discussion about the new gun range in Sabraton which will allow the use of machine guns. Dave Saville suggested we send an article to the newspaper about the gun violence resolution that Don Spencer introduced last month, however Don felt that more time was needed to review and revise the resolution before it was introduced to the paper as well as the City Council. It was suggested that we send the resolution to the City Council Committee of the Whole, however that would need to be submitted this coming Wednesday to get it on the agenda for November 28th. Jan Derry suggested that someone simply read a statement at the City Council meeting regarding gun violence. It was then suggested that we use the content of the resolution to create an editorial for the newspaper. Marlene Robinson and others were concerned that an article in the paper might cause people to prejudge the situation in a negative way. It was finally decided that Dave Saville would write and circulate a draft of an editorial that simply recognizes gun violence issues. Don Spencer distributed a proposed list of films for the Community Human Rights Film Festival. There are three films that will be shown on February 13, March 20, and April 10 which address topics such as homelessness, Native American rights, and the Thirteenth Amendment. A discussion of the DACA issue took place. Don Spencer mentioned that Barbara Fleischauer reported that the is no DACA youth residing in Morgantown, however Jake Powers assured the Commission that no records are kept at the University in regards to DACA status. The Human Rights Ordinance in Fairmont is in the process of being overturned. The Council has to vote on it again and if there is no resolution it goes to the residents to vote. A copy of an article about the Fairmont Ordinance was distributed. Priority Items: The Annual Human Rights Awards were discussed. The check list was reviewed and plans were finalized. Marlene Robinson suggested that we consider giving the group award to the Mountaineer Boys and Girls Club which might assist in the funding efforts. Other groups discussed were the CCSJ and Mountaineers for Progress. For the individual award, Charlene Marshall and Eve Faulkes were suggested. Tim Hariston suggested that the CCSJ might not want the recognition. A vote was taken and it was agreed that Charlene Marshall and the CCSJ would receive the awards. Jan Derry will contact the CCSJ to make sure they will accept the award. If they won’t we will give it to the Boys and Girls Club. The recipients will be asked to speak at the reception at the Aull Center and the Commission will ask Cris 2 Mayo from the LGBTQ Center at WVU to be our speaker for the reception. If Cris Mayo is unavailable Jan will contact David Fisson or Sam Lopez as possible replacements. As far as arrangements are concerned it was decided that everyone would be on the clean-up crew. Judith Wilkinson (with assistance from Jake Powers) will handle the food. Kristen Cooper will write and distribute a press release once the details are finalized. Marlene Robinson will arrange for the awards to be made and Don Spencer will work on getting a donation for the cost of the awards (approx. $175). Don will bring posters and other signage. The theme for this year’s Human Rights Day is “Our Rights. Our Freedoms. Always.” Progress Reports: Don Spencer reviewed the Legislation Docket for 2017. Still in the works are the Universal Design Ordinance (which still needs to be incentivized in some way), Indigenous People’s Day Resolution (which will be worked on in 2018) and the Diversity and Equity Plan for the City employees and volunteers. A work meeting for the Diversity and Equity Plan took place last week – in attendance were Don Spencer, Judith Wilkinson, Marlene Robinson, Jan Derry, and Kristen Cooper. The group discussed plans designed by cities such as Burlington, VT, Denton, TX, and Santa Rosa, CA. A document was distributed that gave an overview of elements necessary for a plan to work properly. These included a mission statement, a city manager accountable for the initiatives, an affirmative action plan, diversity training, among others. Don Spencer announced that the City now has a Human Resources representative – John Bihum, who is working on a diversity plan. The hope is that his plan and the Commission’s plan will dovetail. Key issues will include the generating of diversity, selecting volunteers of diversity. The next meeting of the committee will take place on November 30th. Everyone received a copy of the complaint form that will be used in cases related to the Human Rights Ordinance. The Commissioners were asked to review it and bring ideas for changes to the December meeting. Matt Miller was not in attendance so there was no report on the social media or hot line. Jan Derry reported that we have received no emails. We discussed the inquiry we received for a resident of Fairmont regarding the accomplishments of our Commission. It was decided to refer the person to our website where he could find our Annual Report and Legislative Docket. Jan Derry will ask Matt Miller to pass the information on to the Fairmont resident. New Business: The Commission reviewed the budget for FY2019 which needs to be submitted to the city next month. The cost of Diversity and Equity training costs were discussed. It was agreed that the copy and office supply expenses should be increased to $300. A budget for social media promotion was suggested at $150. Jan Derry will create a letter to the City Manager (with the assistance of Kristen Cooper) and submit our requested budget. 3 Jan Derry spoke to the CCSJ about MLK Day and reserved a table for the Commission at the upcoming event. At the December meeting we will discuss what will be displayed and/or distributed at the table. Regular Meeting Items: The December meeting will include a holiday pot luck and a limited agenda. The Commission will continue to consult the annual calendar for events of interest. Dave Saville talked about his upcoming trip to Africa and requested donations of various items. Judith Wilkinson spoke about an article in the Charleston Gazette that announced plans for the city to close its homeless shelters. Judith Wilkinson moved that we adjourn the meeting and the motion passed unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 8:55 pm. Submitted by Kristen Cooper 4