Human Relation Commission Meeting

MINUTES OF A REGULAR MEETING _____________________________________________________________________________________ URBANA HUMAN RELATIONS COMMISSION DATE: Wednesday, April 9, 2014 TIME: 5:30 p.m. PLACE: Urbana City Council Chambers Urbana City Building 400 South Vine Street Urbana, Illinois 61801 _____________________________________________________________________________________ MEMBERS PRESENT: Frances Rigberg Baker, Daniel Larson, Lisa Mosley, Peter Resnick, Aisha Lamb Sobh MEMBERS NOT PRESENT: Eric Smith, Rizwan Uddin STAFF PRESENT: Todd Rent 1. CALL TO ORDER, ROLL CALL, AND DECLARATION OF QUORUM a. Chair Larson not being present at the time of the call to order, Mr. Resnick acted as chair for a portion of this meeting. Mr. Resnick called this meeting of the Urbana Human Relations Commission to order at 5:37 p.m. Roll was taken. A quorum was present. At 6:01 p.m., Chair Larson arrived and chairmanship of the meeting was transferred from Mr. Resnick to Chair Larson. 2. APPROVAL OF AGENDA a. Ms. Mosley made a motion that the agenda be approved as presented. Ms. Rigberg Baker seconded the motion. Chair Larson called for a voice vote. All were in favor. The motion carried unanimously. 3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES a. Ms. Lamb Sobh made a motion that the Commission approve the draft minutes of the January 8, 2014 meeting and the minutes of the February 12, 2014 meeting in omnibus fashion. Ms. Mosley seconded the motion. Chair Larson called for a voice vote. All were in favor. The motion carried unanimously. 4. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION a. Aaron Ammons addressed the Commission. Mr. Ammons stated his support for the enforcement rule regarding “prior conviction” as a protected class. He also thanked the Commission for its work on the same. b. James Kilgore addressed the Commission, echoing the sentiments of Mr. Ammons. c. Michael Lopez addressed the Commission, echoing the sentiments of Mr. Ammons and Mr. Kilgore.  d. Dewayne Blackford addressed the Commission, echoing the sentiments of Mr. Ammons, Mr. Kilgore and Mr. Lopez. 5. OLD BUSINESS a. Motion in Support of Prior Conviction Enforcement Rule i. Mr. Rent gave a brief review of the enforcement guidance. A draft motion was presented to the Commission by City staff. The Commission discussed the motion, with comments and questions being addressed by Mr. Rent. By consensus, the Commission elected to change the following verbiage of the motion: NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT MOVED BY THE URBANA HUMAN RELATIONS COMMISSION, as follows:, the new verbiage to read, NOW, THEREFORE, THE URBANA HUMAN RELATIONS COMMISSION RECOMMENDS AS FOLLOWS: With no further changes, Mr. Resnick recited the motion as follows: WHEREAS, the Urbana Human Rights Ordinance has prohibited discrimination against individuals based upon their “prior arrest or conviction records” since the adoption of the Ordnance in 1975, and WHEREAS, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has released an enforcement bulletin which, among other things, concludes that “[n]ational data … supports a finding that criminal records exclusions have a disparate impact based on race and national origin,” and WHEREAS, the Human Relations Office has published “The Urbana Human Relations Office Enforcement Rule Governing Inquiry into and Consideration of Prior Arrest or Conviction Record by Employers” (hereinafter “Rule”) in order to increase the effectiveness of the enforcement of the City of Urbana’s prohibition of discrimination based upon “prior conviction”, and WHEREAS, the Rule does not alter existing law, but rather articulates the standards that the Human Relations Office will rely upon when investigating and evaluating whether the Urbana Human Rights Ordinance’s prohibition against discrimination based upon “prior arrest or conviction record” has been violated, and WHEREAS, the Human Relations Commission received public input regarding the probable impact of the Rule on covered businesses and protected class members NOW, THEREFORE, THE URBANA HUMAN RELATIONS COMMISSION RECOMMENDS AS FOLLOWS: that the Commission supports the adoption and implementation of the “Urbana Human Relations Office Enforcement Rule Governing Inquiry into and Consideration of Prior Arrest or Conviction Record by Employers.” MOVED and ADOPTED by the URBANA HUMAN RELATIONS COMMISSION this 9th day of April, 2014. Ms. Mosley formally set forth the motion as stated by Mr. Resnick. Ms. Rigberg Baker seconded the motion. Mr. Resnick called for a roll call vote. Roll was taken and the votes were as follows: 2  Rigberg Baker: aye Mosley: aye Resnick: aye Lamb Sobh: aye The motion carried unanimously. b. Motion in Support of Vehicle for Hire Ordinance Recommendations i. Mr. Rent reviewed the recommendations for changes to the City of Urbana’s Vehicle for Hire Ordinance. Comments and questions from the Commission were addressed by Mr. Rent, after which Chair Larson invited audience members to address the Commission regarding this issue. On his own behalf as well as on behalf of Citizens with Conviction, Aaron Ammons expressed concerns with regards to disparate impact on those with prior conviction records seeking a City license to operate a vehicle for hire. Mr. Ammons’s comments were discussed by the Commission. A concern with regards to women and/or children being conveyed by drivers with prior conviction records having already been set forth, James Kilgore urged the Commission to consider other scenarios with regards to vehicle-for-hire drivers and their passengers. Mr. Kilgore’s comments were discussed by the Commission. Michael Lopez addressed the Commission with regards to vehicle-for-hire drivers with prior convictions. Mr. Lopez’s comments were discussed by the Commission. Following further discussion, the Commission requested that the Human Relations Office revise the Vehicle for Hire Ordinance Recommendations as per discussion at this meeting and return the same to the Commission at its next regular meeting for review and further discussion. 6. NEW BUSINESS a. There was none. 7. STAFF REPORT a. Approval of EEO Workforce Statistics i. The EEO Workforce Statistics were reviewed and staff recommendations for approval were as follows: 1. Waters Mowing Service a. Recommend 2 years 2. A & R Mechanical Contractors, Inc. a. Recommend 6 months 3. A & R Mechanical Services, Inc. a. Recommend 6 months 4. Duce Construction Co. a. Recommend 1 year 5. ERES International, Inc. a. Recommend 2 years 6. Foth Infrastructure & Environment, LLC a. Recommend 1 year 7. GEOCON Professional Services a. Recommend 2 years 8. Hanson Professional Services, Inc. a. Recommend 2 years 3  9. Health Alliance Medical Plans, Inc. a. Recommend 1 year 10. Springfield Electric Supply Co. a. Recommend 1 year Mr. Resnick raised concerns regarding the workforce statistics of both A & R Mechanical Contractors, Inc., and A & R Mechanical Services, Inc. He recommended that City staff obtain further information with regards to the decline in both entities’ minority workforce numbers and that approval of both entities be postponed until such information could be reviewed by the Commission. There were no objections. Ms. Mosley made a motion that the Commission approve Waters Mowing Service for two years; Duce Construction Co. for one year; ERES International, Inc. for two years; Foth Infrastructure & Environment, LLC for one year; GEOCON Professional Services for two years; Hanson Professional Services, Inc. for two years; Health Alliance Medical Plans, Inc. for one year; and Springfield Electric Supply Co. for one year. The motion was seconded by Ms. Lamb Sobh. Chair Larson called for a voice vote. All were in favor. The motion carried unanimously. b. HRO Activity Report i. Mr. Rent reviewed the monthly activity report with the Commission, addressing Commission comments and questions during the course of his review. c. Budget Report i. Mr. Rent reviewed the monthly Budget Report. Since the previous meeting of the Commission there were no changes in the budget. 8. ANNOUNCEMENTS a. Ms. Mosley announced that April is Autism Awareness Month and that there would be an Autism Walk held on April 27, 2014, at 2:00 p.m., at Hessel Park in Champaign. 9. ADJOURNMENT a. There being no further business to come before the Commission, Chair Larson declared the meeting to be adjourned at 7:02 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Tony Weck Recording Secretary 4