Human Relation Commission Meeting

MINUTES OF A REGULAR MEETING _____________________________________________________________________________________ URBANA HUMAN RELATIONS COMMISSION DATE: Wednesday, June 11, 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, Kevin Bowersox-Johnson, Daniel Larson, Lisa Mosley, Peter Resnick MEMBERS NOT PRESENT: Aisha Lamb Sobh, Rizwan Uddin STAFF PRESENT: Todd Rent 1. CALL TO ORDER, ROLL CALL, AND DECLARATION OF QUORUM a. Chair Larson called this meeting of the Urbana Human Relations Commission to order at 5:33 p.m. Roll was taken. A quorum was present. 2. APPROVAL OF AGENDA a. Mr. Resnick made a motion to approve the agenda as presented. Ms. Mosley seconded the motion. Chair Larson called for a voice vote. All were in favor. The motion carried unanimously. 3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES a. Mr. Resnick made a motion that the Commission approve the draft minutes of the May 14, 2014 meeting as presented. Ms. Rigberg Baker seconded the motion. Chair Larson called for a voice vote. All were in favor. The motion carried unanimously. 4. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION a. There was none. 5. OLD BUSINESS a. Motion in Support of Vehicle for Hire Ordinance Findings i. Mr. Rent gave a brief introduction of this matter, following which he addressed comments and questions from the Commission. Following discussion, Mr. Resnick made a motion as follows: WHEREAS, the City Council requested that the Urbana Human Relations Commission examine the human rights implications of the licensure restrictions contained in Section 26-28(a)(3) of the City of Urbana’s “Vehicle for Hire” Ordinance, and WHEREAS, Section 12-37 of the Urbana Human Rights Ordinance provides, in part, that it “is the intent of the City of Urbana in adopting this article, to secure an end, in the city, to discrimination, including, but not limited to, discrimination by reason of race, … national origin, … [or] prior arrest or conviction record”, and the Human Relations Commission supports the intent of this provision, 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 record exclusions have a disparate impact based on race and national origin”, and WHEREAS, the Human Relations Office has published a memorandum which includes findings that the aforementioned provision of the Vehicle for Hire Ordinance, in all likelihood, has a disproportionately exclusive impact on African-American and Latino license applicants without achieving the intended goal of preserving public health, safety, and welfare, and WHEREAS, the Human Relations Commission has carefully considered the memorandum and supports its findings, and WHEREAS, the Human Relations Commission believes that it is beyond its remit to make specific police recommendations which seek to preserve public health, safety, and welfare, while reducing any inappropriate discrimination, and therefore can neither endorse nor oppose the specific recommendations of the memorandum for amending the aforementioned provision of the Vehicle for Hire Ordinance, and WHEREAS, the Human Relations Commission concludes that enforcement of the aforementioned provision of the Vehicle for Hire Ordinance in its present form constitutes intentional discrimination in that individuals with prior convictions are intentionally subjected to disparate treatment based solely upon their protected class status, and WHEREAS, the Human Relations Commission concludes that enforcement of the aforementioned provision in its present form constitutes discrimination by creating a disparate impact against African-Americans and Latinos, and WHEREAS, the Human Relations Commission concludes that enforcement of the aforementioned provision in its present form inappropriately discriminates against persons with prior convictions without achieving the intended goal of preserving public health, safety, and welfare. 2  NOW, THEREFORE, THE URBANA HUMAN RELATIONS COMMISSION recommends as follows: That Section 26-23(a)(3) of the City of Urbana’s “Vehicle for Hire” Ordinance should be amended to eliminate, or minimize to the extent practicable, discrimination based on the disparate treatment of persons with prior convictions and the disparate impact on people of a particular race or national origin… Ms. Rigberg Baker seconded the motion. Discussion followed. Chair Larson called for a voice vote. All were in favor. The motion carried unanimously. b. EEO Compliance Review: A & R Contractors/Services i. Mr. Rent gave a brief introduction of this matter, following which he addressed comments and questions from the Commission. Following discussion, Mr. Resnick recommended postponement of approval of A & R Mechanical Contractors and A & R Mechanical Services for one month, pending further information from A & R. Mr. Resnick also recommended that the Human Relations Office contact the appropriate labor union in order to obtain further information on their workforce demographics. The Commission agreed to Mr. Resnick’s recommendation by consensus. 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. Alexis Fire Equipment a. Recommend 2 years 2. Banner Fire Equipment, Inc. a. Recommend 2 years 3. W.S. Darley & Co. a. Recommend 1 year 4. EMC/Genesis Rescue Systems a. Recommend 6 months 5. Dig It of Champaign a. Recommend 2 years 6. Essential Equipment Solutions a. Recommend 2 years 7. Owens Excavating & Trucking, LLC a. Recommend 2 years 8. Sentinel Emergency Solutions a. Recommend 6 months 9. A & R Mechanical Contractors a. Recommend 6 months 10. A & R Mechanical Services a. Recommend 6 months Mr. Resnick made a motion that the Commission approve Alexis Fire Equipment for two years; Banner Fire Equipment, Inc. for two years; W.S. Darley & Co. for one year; EMC/Genesis Rescue Systems for six months; Dig It of Champaign for two years; Essential Equipment Solutions for two years; Owens Excavating & Trucking, LLC for two years; and Sentinel Emergency Solutions for six months. (Per prior discussion, the approvals of A & R Mechanical Contractors and A & R 3  Mechanical Services were postponed pending further review.) Ms. Mosley seconded the motion. 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. Chair Larson welcomed new Commissioner Kevin Bowersox-Johnson, who introduced himself to City staff and the Commission. 9. ADJOURNMENT a. There being no further business to come before the Commission, Chair Larson declared the meeting to be adjourned at 6:04 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Tony Weck Recording Secretary 4