Human Rights Commission

MORGANTOWN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION Minutes for the Special Meeting on October 17, 2024, At the Morgantown Public Safety Building, 300 Spruce Street, Morgantown, WV ATTENDANCE: Commissioners: Chair, Annie CRONAN YORICK; Vice Chair, Danny TREJO; Secretary, Ashley SWANSON; and Commissioner, Laura FLETCHER Liaisons: Tim HAIRSTON, West Virginia Human Rights Commission Members Of The Public: Bonnie BROWN; Don SPENCER CALL TO ORDER: A quorum was present, so the Chair called the meeting to order at 6:37 p.m. MINUTES: FLETCHER moved to accept the Minutes as Amended for September 19, 2024, and SWANSON seconded. Unanimously approved. PUBLIC PORTION: • WVU Community Human Rights Film Festival with Bonnie M. Brown, Chair, WVU Native American Studies Program: Don Spencer and his late wife, Carol, endowed the film series. Its directive: “This fund shall support a film festival for campus and public participation featuring one or more appropriate human rights films selected by a special committee managed by the Program for Native American Studies.” The Native American Studies Program sponsors an Author-in-Residence each year. The 2025 author, Susan Devan Harness, will be on-site in April. The film series encourages collaboration and communication in the community. The HRC’s role is to suggest films and help publicize the event. The 2025 film theme is Children and Families. Suggested film topics: Refugee Crisis, Trans Youth in Crisis, Latino Families & DACA, Human Trafficking, and The Trevor Project. We must submit any suggested film titles to Bonnie by the end of December 2024. She asked the HRC to determine the dollar amount it would donate to the Film Series. COMMUNICATIONS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS: • The City Clerk’s office denied the application for the 2024 Indigenous Peoples Day Proclamation because it was not submitted in the prescribed time frame. The Clerk’s office is applying the rules more strictly due to recent abuses.  • Parkersburg PRIDE has tried to host drag shows, but its City Council has obstructed the project. We have asked our City Attorney to clarify what we can do to support Parkersburg PRIDE’s efforts. The commissioners discussed involving local activist journalists at the Mountain State Spotlight, West Virginia Watch, and Daily Atheneum. Laura FLETCHER will contact Parkersburg PRIDE and investigate media options. UPDATES: Chair, Annie CRONAN YORICK: • She invited the WVU Student Government Association’s Local Governance Liaison, Mimi Ferguson, to attend our meetings. Ms. Ferguson regularly attends City Council meetings and demonstrates an active interest in human rights. • She met with the City Manager and Code Enforcement to discuss human rights violations in local affordable housing communities, enforcing the ADA requirements in the City Code and upholding the City’s responsibilities to its residents. • She is working with the Assistant City Manager, Emily Muzzarelli, to revise the Minority Liaison Coordinating Council structure. The former MLCC has been dormant due to inactivity and the expiration of its members’ commissions in 2022. They discussed bringing the MLCC under the Human Rights Commission as a Special Committee. • We can’t determine the amount of our contribution to the Human Rights Film Series until we have paid all the bills for the December International Human Rights Day events. • The International Human Rights Day Reception and Award Ceremony will be on Sunday, December 8th. She is working with Keith Jackson, WVU Dean of the College of Creative Arts and Media, to find musicians to perform at the reception. She contacted Tina Huggins at Championship Trophies & Awards to design the plaques for the recipients. She will talk to Eve Faulkes about displaying her works at the exhibition. She met with the Communications Director to create publicity and publications for the upcoming events. Vice Chair, Danny TREJO: • He continues to work with Child Protective Services and the Courts to preserve the interests of his clients. There are not adequate translation services for non-English speaking people who engage with government entities. The system is overworked and poorly coordinated. • He addressed judges and prosecutors in a legal training session on How to Work with Latinos. The audience seemed receptive. Secretary, Ashley SWANSON: (Nothing to report) Commissioner, Laura Fletcher: • Suncrest Elementary is sponsoring a guest speaker forum with the group, Culture Reframed, to speak to parents about Safe Online Porn Practices. She is concerned about the possible content. She plans to speak with the school administration to learn the forum’s purpose. WVHRC Liaison, Tim HAIRSTON • The State HRC has two new commissioners. It is now fully staffed for the first time in many years. PRIORITY BUSINESS ADDRESSED: • The 2024 Human Rights Awards Ceremony and Reception: The event will be on December 8, 2024, from 4 to 6 p.m., at the Aull Center (tentative). We will invite local social justice groups, city employees, and the City Council. Commissioners will identify additional invitees.  • The Posters & Flags Exhibition: Annie will ask the Kingwood-Morgantown NAACP if it wants to participate in the exhibition again this year. We will work to coordinate an Art and Essay Contest with Morgantown schools. The exhibition set up will be on December 2nd. Laura will contact other venues to find a more accessible place for the show. The exhibition will run until December 21st. We should ask to use the Public Library’s easels and other display equipment. • The International Human Rights Day Proclamation: Annie will prepare and submit it to the City Clerk’s office. • Planning the Source of Income Public Forums: Tabled until early 2025. ADJOURNMENT: There was no further business. SWANSON moved to adjourn the meeting, and FLETCHER seconded. The Chair adjourned at 9:33 p.m. Next Regular Meeting is scheduled for November 21, 2024. Minutes: Written by Secretary, Ashley SWANSON and edited by Annie CRONAN YORICK for approval at the December 19, 2024, Regular Meeting.