Salem Human Rights Coalition

Meeting Minutes | April 2, 2024 Present Members • Alphonse Wright | Chair • Shimon Avish | Treasurer • Veronica Miranda | Member • Kerry Neenan | Liaison, Commission on Disabilities • Laura Assade | Liaison, Salem Public Schools • Katelyn Adams | Liaison, Salem State University • Lucy Corchado | Liaison, Salem State University • Julio Mota | Liaison, City of Salem, Mayor’s Office • Andrew Varela | Liaison, Salem City Council (Absent) • Captain John Burke | Liaison, Salem Police Department (Absent) • Jessica Rondinelli | Liaison, Salem Police Department (Absent) Present Guests Alan Hanscom, SATV Liv Duarte, SSU Student Marcia Kalman Meeting called to order, recording initiated. Welcome and Introductions. Opportunity for Public Comment. • None Governor’s Statement, read by Chair. Reports from Coalition [A] Chair Currently we can see everyone who is present because of our meeting format, so I’d like to transition back to the City of Salem account to do a webinar format where just members of the Coalition are on screen, and members of the community will not be. Need to look into transcripts for recorded meetings to assist with Minutes. Members of Administration last week discussed SHRC once again producing events for Black History Month in 2025. They put Alphonse on the road to grants, this will be an ongoing process with new financial protocols in place like when requests are re-queued and P.O.’d for reimbursements. [B] Clerk Minutes from February 6, 2024 meeting are in process. No Minutes in January or March due to lack of Quorum. Most current Minutes are online and from December 2023. [C] Treasurer Balance is $1,064.04 – includes Lifebridge donation and Fundraiser. All reimbursements are current. Low on swag; only have t-shirts and sanctuary buttons in English/Spanish. https://www.salemma.gov/salem-human-rights-coalition Page 1 of 4  Meeting Minutes | April 2, 2024 Subcommittee Reports [A] New Arrivals On an emergency basis, paying for things last minute, the state is realizing how expensive that is; so they’re implementing a working group to revise our emergency shelter program and perform advanced planning. Bates Complex will soon no longer be used for housing New Arrivals due to state selling property. Need to vacate by June 30 th. A Taskforce was created to address this headed by Lori Stewart to see how many of these folks we can try to keep in Salem after working so hard to integrate them so far. [B] Universal Basic Income None. [C] Outreach/Engagement None. Old Business [A] Vote on Bylaws Revisions Discussion regarding removing the Treasurer title and incorporating financial duties with Mayor’s Liaison. Motion to remove Treasurer position and combine with Julio as Mayor’s Liaison Officer. Motion carried and approved. Shimon sending Excel spreadsheet to Julio. Thank you, Shimon, for your years of service!! Need to elect a Vice Chair. [B] Vote on Allowing Liaisons to hold Officer Positions Motion to allow Liaisons to hold Officer positions. Discussion regarding Liaisons being Salem residents, agree Liaisons should be. Motion seconded and unanimously approved as long as they are residents of the City of Salem. [C] Vote on Focuses for 2024 Alphonse – Housing is my thing. Mayor has chosen this as a focus, too, so we could dovetail nicely with that. Julio – Education on the civic process and saving democracy, and helping with other organizations in our area on these initiatives. Lucy – we have a presidential election and we need to prepare for that. Motion to focus on Housing seconded and carried. Will be able to work on other two items simultaneously, but this will be our main focus. Liaison Reports [A] Burke/Rondinelli – Salem Police Department absent. [B] Andrew Varela – City of Salem Councilor absent. https://www.salemma.gov/salem-human-rights-coalition Page 2 of 4  Meeting Minutes | April 2, 2024 [C] Julio – Someone new was hired at the Mayor’s Office: a Director of the Children’s Alliance. It’s a grant funded position for Sarah Roy. She is supposed to improve the overall experience of children in Salem. Working with Laura Assade as well. Located on the 3rd floor of the Annex, meets with families and officials. Anticamping ordinance up for a vote due to encampment on South River, Mayor is taking action by paying to fund a new shelter at Lifebridge Thrift Store, a first for the city; and instituting an ordinance to remove via police campers within Salem. [D] Kerry – New process for city restaurants who have outdoor dining space, patio plan must be completed as part of their application process. Includes barriers like planters, chairs, lamps, etc. Added items with the Disability Commission as needed. All of them positive about the feedback. [E] Kate/Lucy – Just finished Annual Acts of Service month. Completed a Campus Climate Survey. AAPI Heritage Month at SSU. Already talking about commencement next month! [F] Laura – Meeting will be held on 4/8 regarding Budget for Salem Public Schools in 2025. New Business [A] Vote on Alternate Clerk – Motion for an alternate Clerk in instances when Pam can’t take Minutes or attend an Officer’s meeting approved. Alternate Clerk is Kerry! [B] Vote on New Member Liv Duarte is a SSU Student studying psych, women’s studies, and social work. Works at the center for civic engagement on advocacy initiatives at SSU. Interest stems from Kate SSU and getting to speak with Alphonse. A lot of SHRC initiatives are things Liv would like to turn into a Community Engagement career. Interested in being a proactive member of the community here in Salem. At the MLK Convocation, Liv won the award MLK Undergraduate Leadership Award for contributions to Peace, Justice, Leadership, and Equity. Unanimously approved membership! Will continue conversation after a few meetings to see if she’s interested in Vice Chair. Upcoming Events • Race Equity Commission and SHRC Meet-Up before Pride to disseminate t-shirts to coalition members. • June 22nd March and Vending for NS Pride. $275. Motion carried and unanimously approved. Veronica and Alphonse interested in Vending. Will coordinate via email who does what in advance. Flag raising June 2nd. https://www.salemma.gov/salem-human-rights-coalition Page 3 of 4  Meeting Minutes | April 2, 2024 • June 9th Walk for HAWC need to build a team, get commitment now, $30/person. Veronica and Pam interested in forming a team; City might be able to sponsor us, Alphonse to investigate. • New restaurant The Babe interested in getting involved with SHRC if we do a fundraiser there, like a night % of sales for us. Speak to Seth. Next Scheduled Meeting is May 7, 2024 at 5:30 PM. Motion for Adjournment approved. https://www.salemma.gov/salem-human-rights-coalition Page 4 of 4