Human Rights Commission Meeting

CITY OF NORMAN, OK HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION MEETING Municipal Building, Executive Conference Room 201 West Gray, Norman, OK 73069 Monday, February 24, 2025 at 5:30 PM MINUTES The Human Rights Commission of the City of Norman, Cleveland County, State of Oklahoma, will meet in Regular Session in the Executive Conference Room at the Municipal Building, on Monday, February 24, 2025 at 5:30 PM and notice of the agenda of the meeting was posted at the Norman Municipal Building at 201 West Gray, and on the City website at least 24 hours prior to the beginning of the meeting. PRESENT Commission Chair Aisha Ali Commission Vice-Chair Michael Ridgeway ABSENT Commissioner Jackie Farley STAFF PRESENT Grace Holloman, Accessibility Strategist Jeanne Snider, Assistant City Attorney Sarah Encinias, Legal Admin Tech ROLL CALL A quorum was present. Chair Ali called the meeting to order at 5:35 p.m. MINUTES 1. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES FOR THE NOVEMBER 25, 2024, REGULAR MEETING Motion was made by Vice-Chair Ridgeway to approve the Minutes for the November 25, 2024, regular meeting and motion was duly seconded by Chair Ali. A vote was taken with the following results: all approved and none opposed. The Minutes were approved by unanimous vote. 2. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES FOR THE DECEMBER 16, 2024, SPECIAL MEETING Motion was made by Vice-Chair Ridgeway to approve the Minutes for the December 16, 2024, special meeting and motion was duly seconded by Chair Ali. A vote was taken with the following results: all approved and none opposed. The Minutes were approved by unanimous vote. HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION MEETING - Monday, February 24, 2025 Page |1  3. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES FOR THE JANUARY 11, 2025, INTERFAITH BREAKFAST Motion was made by Vice-Chair Ridgeway to approve the Minutes for the January 11, 2025, Interfaith Breakfast and motion was duly seconded by Chair Ali. A vote was taken with the following results: all approved and none opposed. The Minutes were approved by unanimous vote. ACTION ITEMS 4. DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION ON PROCLAMATIONS / RECOGNITIONS Chair Ali said she has a list/chart that she has created but she has to convert it to a Word document in order to print it and give it to Commissioners. She would like to have proclamations lined out for the year ahead. Chair Ali and Vice-Chair Ridgeway agreed on the goal to have Women’s History Month on the Council agenda for March 11 and to have Child Abuse Prevention Month on the Council agenda for March 25. Chair Ali would like to ask Blue Tree to accept the March 25 proclamation. Once she chooses a recipient for Women’s History Month, she will let Ms. Holloman know. The item for the Human Rights Award was submitted to the City Clerk for placement on a Council agenda but it has yet to be approved for placement by the Mayor. 5. DISCUSSION AND REVIEW OF THE 2025 INTERFAITH BREAKFAST Chair Ali has gathered the results received so far of the survey that she asked speakers to complete after the breakfast. Once she gets the results printed, she will send them to Ms. Holloman. She said speakers stayed on topic but a few of them went too long and this made the breakfast run late. Overall she received positive feedback and suggestions from responses. 6. DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION REGARDING THE 2026 INTERFAITH BREAKFAST Chair Ali would like to hold the 2026 Breakfast at the NPS Center for Arts and Learning building, 3901 Journey Parkway, to allow for more attendees. The building is the former site of Journey Church and was obtained recently by NPS for fine arts and concerts. She would also like to have the date set as soon as possible to allow for more preplanning. Vice-Chair Ridgeway would like to keep MLK Day open for MLK Day events and have the breakfast on a separate day. Ms. Holloman advised that she received comments from other religions that their faith doesn’t allow for Saturday activities but maybe if the Breakfast is planned far enough in advance, this would allow someone from these religions to participate. Ms. Holloman suggested having the next Breakfast on Saturday, January 17th, with a backup date of Monday, January 19, 2026. Chair Ali will check with NPS for availability. HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION MEETING - Monday, February 24, 2025 Page |2  7. DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION REGARDING 2025 GOALS Chair Ali would like to begin getting new commissioners as soon as possible once Mayor-elect Holman begins his term. Chair Ali and Vice-Chair Ridgeway will try to schedule a one-on-one meeting with him individually so as not to form a quorum. They would like to address subcommittee goals, mental health issues within the city, and other things that have had to be put on the backburner during previous years. 8. DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION REGARDING 2025 AWARDS Chair Ali acknowledged the issue of receiving a nominee for someone that no longer lived in Norman. She would like the award criteria to be changed to allow for the nomination of someone that lived in Norman for 5 years prior to moving. Ms. Snider said this item would have to be listed more specifically on the next Agenda for the change requested. Chair Ali agreed. Chair Ali said she would also like to push out the application for nominees earlier in the year to allow more time to receive them back and for making the final decision on the nominees. ANNOUNCEMENTS A guest requested to nominate someone for the Human Rights Award and Chair Ali said this hasn’t opened for applications just yet. Another guest asked how to receive notices of meetings and he was referred to the online city calendar/meeting tool. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 6:24 p.m. HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION MEETING - Monday, February 24, 2025 Page |3