Human Rights Commission Meeting

CITY OF NORMAN, OK HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION MEETING Municipal Building, Executive Conference Room 201 West Gray St., Norman, OK 73069 Monday, August 28, 2023 at 5:30 PM MINUTES The Human Rights Commission of the City of Norman, Cleveland County, State of Oklahoma, met in the Municipal Complex located at 201 West Gray Street on August 28, 2023, 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 Commission Chair Jackie Farley Commission Vice-Chair Aisha Ali Commissioner Chris Nanny Commissioner Chris Tall Bear Commissioner Michael Ridgeway ABSENT Commissioner Michael Kihega Commissioner Stephen Machovic STAFF PRESENT Maylon Wesley, Culture and Social Responsibility Anthony Purinton, Assistant City Attorney Sarah Encinias, Legal Admin Tech OTHERS PRESENT John Scamehorn ROLL CALL A quorum was present. MINUTES 1. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES FOR THE JULY 24, 2023, REGULAR MEETING An amendment to the first sentence of section 5 of the Minutes was presented at the request of Commissioner Ridgeway. Motion was made by Commissioner Ridgeway to approve the amended Minutes for the July 24, 2023, regular meeting and the motion was duly seconded by Commissioner Nanny. A vote was taken with the following results: all approved and none opposed. The amended Minutes were approved by unanimous vote. HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION MEETING - Monday, August 28, 2023 Page |1 ACTION ITEMS 2. DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION ON PROCLAMATIONS Chair Farley shared that she spoke to the Mayor to clarify the procedure for proposing proclamations. Mayor Heikkila confirmed city council proclamations would focus on public service but that he authorizes the HRC to issue their own proclamations. Commissioners expressed concern about how to bring important societal issues to the forefront to get as much exposure as possible without having them at council meetings. Commissioner Tall Bear mentioned that he attempted to contact his Ward 6 representative to bring attention to HRC issues and to talk about council support for the Human Rights Commission, but has not received a response back. Commissioner Tall Bear left the meeting at 5:44 p.m. and the meeting was paused due to the lack of a quorum. Vice-Chair Ali then arrived at 5:55 p.m. and the meeting resumed after having again established a quorum. Vice-Chair Ali would like to discuss this subject further at the next HRC meeting to allow time to work out how the HRC can take over their own proclamations. 3. DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION ON INCLUSIVE COMMUNITY SUBCOMMITTEE RECOMMENDATIONS This topic was tabled until the next HRC meeting to allow Vice-Chair Ali time to discuss the matter with Commissioner Tall Bear. 4. DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION REGARDING HRC LISTENING SESSIONS AND POTENTIAL KETTERING FOUNDATION TRAINING Commissioner Ridgeway spoke to a Kettering Foundation representative and was informed that the foundation is working on a project related to preserving democracy which has required them to refocus their efforts and manpower to matters other than holding public forums. Also, they don’t want to duplicate the work of the Inclusive Community Subcommittee by having another city-wide survey. Commissioner Ridgeway will continue communicating with the foundation to see if they have other ideas on how the HRC can to reach out to the community. 5. DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION REGARDING 2024 INTERFAITH BREAKFAST Mr. Wesley was able to confirm that the City of Norman will host the Interfaith Breakfast on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Monday, January 15, 2024. McFarlin United Methodist Church’s Fenn Hall venue will not be available for this day due to ongoing construction so another venue will have to be chosen. Cracker Barrel will provide catering with a full breakfast. Mr. Wesley will continue looking at different venues and will give an update at the next meeting. Commissioner Nanny and Vice-Chair Ali will begin working together on a speaker list that represents as many religions as possible. Speakers will have about 3 minutes each and Mr. Wesley will introduce the keynote speaker. Mr. Wesley wishes for the occasion to focus on MLK Day being a day of service and he will inform guests during the HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION MEETING - Monday, August 28, 2023 Page |2  breakfast of service opportunities that the Parks Department will host later that same day. 6. DISCUSSION OF POTENTIAL JOINT MEETING WITH OKC AND TULSA HRCs Mr. Wesley met with the Oklahoma City Human Rights Commission on August 16. He would like for all Norman HRC members to be able to participate in a joint meeting with OKC and Tulsa HRC members. Mr. Purinton will look into the possibility of having the meeting online. MISCELLANEOUS COMMENTS Commissioner Ridgeway said Food & Shelter will have a fundraiser called “Champions of Hope Lunch” featuring Kathryn and Dewey Selmon on Thursday, September 7, at McFarlin Methodist Church. He invited HRC Commissioners to attend the event. Vice-Chair Ali asked that the next meeting agenda include a discussion about the Human Rights Award. She also asked for membership renewal updates. Mr. Wesley said he would ask the Mayor for details. Commissioner Nanny mentioned the City’s new “Norman On-Demand” pilot microtransit service program that compliments existing public transit service by being available during late night hours and on Sundays. Service can be accessed by using an app provided by TransitTech called “Via”. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 6:45 p.m. HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION MEETING - Monday, August 28, 2023 Page |3