Human Rights Commission Meeting

NORMAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION MINUTES April 24, 2017 The Human Rights Commission of the City of Norman, Cleveland County, State of Oklahoma, met in the Municipal Complex located at 201 W. Gray Street on April 24, 2017, at 5:30 p.m., and notice and agenda of the meeting were duly posted 24 hours prior to the beginning of the meeting. PRESENT: Commissioners Mary Lou Drywater, Daniel Dukes, Kirsten T. Edwards, Jackie Farley, Lucy Mahaffey, Mary Womack ABSENT: Commissioners Marjaneh Seirafi-Pour, Kay Ham, Harry Wright STAFF PRESENT: Captain David Teuscher, Officer Ali Jaffrey, Kristina Bell, Sarah Encinias ***** Item 2, being: APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES OF THE JANUARY 23, 2017, HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION MEETING. Acting Chair, Mary Lou Drywater, moved that the minutes of the January 23, 2017, Human Rights Commission meeting be approved, and the motion was duly seconded. A vote was taken with the following result: YEAS: Commissioners Drywater, Dukes, Edwards, Farley, Mahaffey, Womack NAYES: None The Chair declared the motion carried; and the minutes of the January 23, 2017, meeting were approved. ***** Item 3, being: DISCUSSION OF XENIA INSTITUTE COMMUNITY DIALOGUE REGARDING IMPROVING COMMUNITY AND POLICE RELATIONSHIPS. Kristina Bell introduced and announced that Norman Police Captain David Teuscher will be promoted to the position of Major and will begin attending HRC meetings as he had done previously in the years of 2007 through 2008. Captain Teuscher attended the Xenia Institute Community Dialog and stated Commissioner Ham was a key moderator of the group. Open communication by the Norman Police Department (PD) was discussed and encouraged by both groups and community interaction concerns from the public were addressed. The Norman PD strives to continue to improve community interaction, acknowledging that the lack of this quality is a problem in parts of the nation. It was observed that mostly older citizens attended the meeting but that it would be ideal if a younger group would also attend to give their points of view. ***** Norman Human Rights Commission April 24, 2017 Page 2 Item 4, being: DISCUSSION OF AND POSSIBLE ACTION ON FUTURE PROCLAMATIONS. A Proclamation recognizing the month of May as Mental Health Awareness Month will be presented at tomorrow’s City Council meeting and HRC members were highly encouraged to attend. The meeting will begin at 6:30 p.m. with the proclamation to be presented soon thereafter. Also discussed was the proclamation to recognize the anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act on the 26th day of July, the actual day of the anniversary, and then to recognize September as Hispanic- Latino Heritage Month. The Chair moved to approve these proclamations and the committee unanimously approved. ***** Item 5, being: DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION ON INDIGENOUS PEOPLE’S DAY. Members discussed various language changes made by the City Attorney to the language of the original proposed Resolution. If passed by the City Council, the Resolution would recognize the second Monday of every October as Indigenous People’s Day by the City of Norman. The Commission wishes to make a recommendation to City Council to approve the Resolution and discussion was held about the recommendation for a Study Session in the interim. ***** Item 6, being: MISCELLANEOUS DISCUSSION The Committee recognized the many academic accomplishments of member, Lucy Mahaffey, during her student career at the University of Oklahoma. ***** Item 7, being: ADJOURNMENT. At this time, the Chair moved that the meeting be adjourned, which motion was duly seconded by the Commissioners. A unanimous vote was taken and the meeting was adjourned at 6:40 p.m.