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, September 25, 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 September 25, 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 Michael Ridgeway Commissioner Stephen Machovic ABSENT Commissioner Chris Tall Bear Commissioner Michael Kihega STAFF PRESENT Maylon Wesley, Culture and Social Responsibility Anthony Purinton, Assistant City Attorney Sarah Encinias, Legal Admin Tech OTHERS PRESENT Anna Hyslop, Leadership Team Participant, Strong Towns ROLL CALL A quorum was present. MINUTES 1. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES FOR THE AUGUST 28, 2023, REGULAR MEETING An addition to section 2, paragraph 2, was presented at the request of Commissioner Tall Bear. Motion was made by Commissioner Ridgeway to approve the amended Minutes for the August 28, 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. ACTION ITEMS 2. DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION ON PROCLAMATIONS HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION MEETING - Monday, September 25, 2023 Page |1  Chair Farley and Commissioner Nanny provided a handout summary of their discussion notes regarding issuing recognition awards instead of proclamations. They also included a list of suggested topics along with recommended rules. The award certificate could be placed in a frame, the City could issue a press release, and the recipient could have their family attend the HRC meeting where the award would be presented. If possible, this could be done in Council Chambers with a photographer to memorialize the event. Commissioners request that the award certificate be worded in a way to recognize the person’s service to the community. Mr. Wesley said he will look through his older files for possible examples. Chair Farley and Commissioner Nanny will continue working to finalize their plans for presentation and approval at the October HRC meeting. 3. DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION ON INCLUSIVE COMMUNITY SUBCOMMITTEE RECOMMENDATIONS This topic was tabled for discussion at a later meeting. 4. DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION REGARDING HRC LISTENING SESSIONS AND POTENTIAL KETTERING FOUNDATION TRAINING Commissioner Ridgeway reported no new information at this time therefore the topic was tabled for discussion at a future meeting. 5. DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION REGARDING 2024 INTERFAITH BREAKFAST Commissioner Nanny said she has the list of previous speakers and that she and Vice- Chair Ali will continue using it to gather speakers for the upcoming breakfast. Chair Farley suggested that the keynote speaker be given about 15 minutes with all others about 3-5 minutes. Mr. Wesley said there should be approximately 10 additional speakers and this will make the breakfast about 1.5 – 2 hours long. Mr. Wesley said he checked and the breakfast can possibly be held at the Young Family Athletic Center. This facility will hopefully be completed soon and allow as many as +300 attendees along with ample parking. The Moore Norman Tech Center didn’t have suitable facilities and the City’s central library’s capacity maxes out at about 136 attendees when using tables in the set up. 6. DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION ON HUMAN RIGHTS AWARD Vice-Chair Ali requested to use the measures that were drafted for last year’s award nominations. Mr. Purinton said he can include them in the binders for October’s meeting. Commissioners then discussed that the award would most likely be presented at a City Council meeting. A suggestion was made to present the award at the Interfaith Breakfast but some weren’t sure there would be enough time to include this item at the event. HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION MEETING - Monday, September 25, 2023 Page |2  (Item 6 was discussed after Item 2 in order to include Commissioner Machovic before he had to leave the meeting. Commissioner Ali arrived at 5:45 pm with Commissioner Machovic leaving at 6:10 pm. A quorum was maintained and discussion continued with this item and then went back to the remaining items in numerical order.) Commissioners agreed to have the award press release on October 2nd with nominations due by October 18th. Commissioners will then decide on a winner at the October 23rd HRC meeting. MISCELLANEOUS COMMENTS Mr. Purinton said the HRC now has 6 members and 3 vacancies, and that 4 members are needed for a quorum. Mr. Wesley said he has no new information on the acquisition of new members to fill vacancies. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 6:53 p.m. HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION MEETING - Monday, September 25, 2023 Page |3