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HomeMy WebLinkAbout05/05/1992 td, 41-,;\fat L c21,,, %A oi 5c r 15� baw- NIu k'V' ' AGENDA MAPLEWOOD HUMAN RELATIONS COMMISSION Tuesday, May 5, 1992 Maplewood City Hall Maplewood Room 7:00 p.m. I. CALL TO ORDER A. Agenda Approval II. APPROVAL OF MINUTES A) III. OLD BUSINESS 1 Ct .t,p .- CuPta,. r1:1t -U A. Human Rights Award - —14'1: S P\CL - IK'Pl) 17 1 T u r.s1-- Pu u1Q Crsk,Ac 0 -coo B. Maplewood Human Rights bay - Karla Oft,. !�4o --.:, Sea Lt.; Papa,:, 4oa ,� C. Joint Efforts - Karla N0, -., AG /� a V° �En/t-L7•Fs''D '��ov%R..dS �{-s �Pet�� D. Resolution (NEST) - Pat J IV. NEW BUSINESS A. Dept. of Human Rights letter - attached (Please read before meeting.) B. School District Project - Karla V. REPORTS A. League of Minnesota Human Rights Commission B. City of Maplewood C. Grievances D. Other MINUTES MAPLEWOOD HUMAN RELATIONS COMMISSION Thursday, April 9, 1992 7:00 PM Maplewood City Hall Maplewood Room PRESENT ABSENT Karla Sand Pat Williamson Gordon Heininger Dawn Vassar Sister Claire Lynch Jim Garrett Mike LaClair - applicant Gail Blackstone Mike McGuire I. Call to Order The meeting of the Maplewood Human Relations Commission was called to order at 7:05 p.m., on April 9, 1992, by Karla Sand, Chair. II. Minutes Minutes of the March 10, 1992 meeting were approved as written. III. Old Business A. Human Rights Award Nominations Discussion about applications was pursued. Three candidates applications were discussed whether they were really qualified as truly representative or involved in human rights efforts. It was decided that Jim Garrett will call all three sponsors of the three candidates and interview them further about their qualifications for the Human Rights Award. Jim will then call Commission members to give them information on what he has learned so that one of the three candidates can be chosen for the award. B. 1991 Annual Report A draft of the report was reviewed. Gordon Heininger moved that the 1991 Annual Report for the Human Relations Commission be accepted as printed for approval at the City Council meeting on April 27, 1992. ,iorz r.rn„r1 • • _f, te, r7i !- I bi ,2� a �� �a .i..., Mi)rireso�a Deprtste,rbe- o / h tSs, _Af::� ,-, <�+1 . < ,,,z.rrn-sy April 13, 1992 Gail Blackstone Maplewood City Hall 1830 E. County Road B Maplewood, MN 55109 Dear Ms. Blackstone : I am writing this letter in response to the concerns expressed by several members of local Human Rights Commissions regarding the status of the No Fault Grievance process. It seems there has been some misunderstanding about what the Department is doing with regard to No Fault Grievance (NFG) referrals and how that impacts the relationship between the Department and the local commissions. First, I want to clarify that the Department has not eliminated, nor does it intend to eliminate the No Fault Grievance referral system that has been used with the local Human Rights Commissions. What we have done, however, is change Department procedures for referring No Fault Grievance's to the local commissions. Last July the Department's Intake Unit developed a new procedure for referring potential discrimination charges for mediation (a/k/a alternative dispute resolution). The Department has always used a variety of approaches to mediation, including outside mediation services, No Fault Grievances, and inhouse mediation. The Department's current Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) program has taken these three approaches to mediation and placed them under one umbrella. When Intake identifies a case eligible for ADR referral, it is first considered for No Fault Grievance (NFG) referral. If the case is not from a locale where No Fault Grievance is available, it is referred to a community mediation service, or if the parties request, it can be mediated by Department Intake staff. The other significant change in the ADR referral process is the point at which thty Intake Unit makes the referral. As of July, ADR (including NFG) referrals are made only after the Department has received a completed questionnaire from the interested party. Prior to this change, all No Fault Grievance referrals were made at the time of the initial telephone call from an interested party. Since only about 45 percent of those who are mailed questionnaires actually return a completed questionnaire, this change alone accounts for a significant reduction in number of referrals. After a completed questionnaire is returned, the potential charging party (grievant) is contacted by the Department to determine if he or she is interested in ADR. If the charging party/grievant is interested, the Department contacts the respondent to determine whether the respondent is willing to attempt this process. It is only after both parties have agreed to attempt ADR that a referral to a local Human Rights Commission or a community mediation service is made. The result is that the Department makes fewer referrals. However, those cases that are referred involve parties who are prepared and willing to mediate. As you are probably well aware, the chance for successful resolution is greatly enhanced when the parties are committed to attempting mediation. AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER 500 Bremer Tower, 7th Place and Minnesota Street, St. Paul, Minnesota 55101 (612)296-5663 or (800)652-9747 C. Cultural Diversity Award Changes were suggested such as enhancing our present award ceremony by trying to get more interest and attendance. It was decided that we will pretty much stick to a two-hour ceremony with a better known speaker and try to increase attendance. Karla's meeting with Eden Prairie Human Relations Commission will hopefully give us some further ideas. The matter was tabled until the next meeting. D. Letter from Winona HRC Maplewood Police Department keeps track of gay bias cases and we have no incidents on record. Sent letter to Winona HRC regarding same and no further action being taken at this time. Suggest that they contact League of Minnesota HR Commission. E. Joint Efforts Commissions doing joint activities together might be helpful for better relations between them. Gordy suggested that we ask a member of another commission to attend our meeting and talk about their activities to establish some beginning relationships. Karla will invite someone for the next meeting. IV. New Business A. ADA Grievance Committee As required under ADA, the City is forming an ADA Compliance Committee to hear complaints not resolved by the City. Gretchen Maglich, Assistant City Manager, is asking for a member from the Human Relations Commission. Jim Garrett was appointed from the Human Relations Commission with Dawn Vassar as the alternate member for the Committee. V. Reports B. City of Maplewood Gail to talk to Tom Ekstrand regarding metro-mobilities cutback on their services to disabled and how this might affect NEST's future operation in our area and the City Council's funding of it. VI. Adjournment at 8:55 p.m. J• ��:y i1 53 _y. y_ Departme,rt of/*iiø,y Nits ':1:tmn.: The liaison assigned to your commission is Adelberto Batica, who will be contacting you in the near future to assess what, if any, joint projects you would like to enter into with the Department. I have included a list of possible activities as food for thought. I realize many local commissions have been involved in a wide variety of human rights related activities for years, many of which are listed on the attached sheet. Those groups that wish to expand their roles may do so with some linkage with the Department, if so desired. Finally, I want to assure the commissions that the Department will continue to provide training for all new commission members. A yearly training schedule with locations and dates will be compiled by the Community Services Unit. Please contact your liaison if you wish to provide input regarding the training plans. The Department also plans to provide specialized mediation training for those who will be involved with the NFG process and the Department expects that no more than one or two individuals from each commission will be trained for this role. Attempting to train entire commissions for NFG in the past made this specialized mediation training impractical and less effective, because of the size of the training classes. I hope this letter has answered many of your questions and allayed any concerns you may have had about the changes in the No Fault Grievance referral procedures. Feel free to call or write with any further concerns or questions you have on this subject. Sincerely, -----)415 i--- -/— .'. . 41 Mary Hedges Director Compliance and Community Services Division cc: David Beaulieu, Commissioner Tracy Elftmann, Deputy Commissioner Catharine Stiney, Community Services Unit Supervisor Elaine Hanson, Intake Unit Supervisor Adelberto Batica, Community Services Unit AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER 500 Bremer Tower, 7th Place and Minnesota Street, St. Paul, Minnesota 55101 (612)296-5663 or (800)652-9747 `'furl+.._.,,g7iiL. ^ i v+. ti `.•• lot LE U[�,• �� . �� -. F' Mi)iwesota Depar� iiern of/iiiiia'i, '4 i858:,;cv mrrrn: The following statistics illustrate how the changes in our referral procedure have impacted the number of NFG referrals. During the period from 7/1/91 to 3/31/92, 211 cases were eligible for referral to ADR; 63 of those were in communities where NFG programs are available. Of the 63 NFG possibilities, all were contacted for referral with the following results: 20 charging parties (grievants) declined 15 charging parties (grievants) failed to respond 5 respondents declined after charging party accepted 3 cases in NFG locales were handled by the Department at the request of the parties; negotiations were conducted by phone. 11 referrals are pending (awaiting replies from 9 charging parties, 2 respondents) 6 cases referred to NFG are open 3 cases referred to NFG are closed (1 settled; 2 were not resolved) As the statistics illustrate, the number of NFG referrals is dependent upon the choices of the parties involved, including their willingness to follow through with action once they have initially contacted the Department. The changes in the ADR referral process have improved the overall program by ensuring that only committed parties are routed through the system. Although the changes entail more work for Department Intake staff, this revised system more accurately accounts for NFG referrals and eliminates extra steps for the local commissions. How has this change impacted the local commissions involved in the NFG process? Obviously it has reduced the number of NFG referrals. This noticeable reduction has precipitated the concern expressed by some of the local commissions that the Department might be eliminating the NFG system. The Department is not eliminating the NFG referral system. However, the Department has made and will continue to make improvements, as necessary, to ensure the viability of the program. Also, the changes in the way the Department refers cases for NFG should not affect the manner in which you conduct the resolution of matters that come to you directly for NFG. You may wish to publicize this service more in your community so that you receive more NFG requests directly. The Department is also aware of the concern expressed by some commissions that the NFG referral process is the activity that legitimizes the local Human Rights Commission in the eyes of the mayor or city council and provides the official connection with the Department. We do not want to sever that tie, by any means. In fact, we support the notion of strengthening the link between the Department and the local commissions when such cooperation promotes the cause of human rights at the local level and is the desire of the local commission. We have begun that process by assigning a liaison from the Department to each of the local commissions. The liaison will be working with your local commission to tailor your needs to assistance the Department can provide. AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER 500 Bremer Tower, 7th Place and Minnesota Street, St. Paul, Minnesota 55101 (612)296-5663 or (800)652-9747 ACTIVITIES/PROJECTS FOR LOCAL HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSIONS Mary Hedges Minnesota Department of Human Rights 1. Monitor newspapers for discriminatory employment and housing ads. One or more persons can be selected from your commission to monitor newspaper ads. (You may want to rotate this responsibility monthly or yearly. ) The Minnesota Department of Human Rights has developed form letters to be mailed to employers and property owners from your local commission to notify the employer/owner of the illegal ad and informing the employer/owner that Minnesota Department Human Rights or your city commission can be called with any questions about non-discriminatory ads. 2. Legislative Telephone Tree Constituent input can make a difference in passing/defeating legislation. Every year there is legislation on human rights issues, ranging from amending the Minnesota Human Rights Act to eliminating the Minnesota Department of Human Rights. Local commission input to legislators has helped save the Minnesota Department of Human Rights in past years, although a formalized calling network would make commission efforts much more effective and efficient. Appoint two to three contact persons whose names, addresses, and telephone numbers (both work and home numbers) are provided to the Minnesota Department of Human Rights for immediate contact when last minute issues arise at the legislature. The contact person, once notified by Minnesota Department of Human Rights, telephones his/her designated persons, who in turn notify their designated persons, etc. The idea is for everyone called in the telephone tree to contact their legislator. Your commission can also use your telephone tree for local issues. 3. Monitor Employment Applications Your commission can ask local employers for employment applications to review and advise employers on changes to avoid discriminatory questions. Minnesota Department of Human Rights has developed a checklist for prohibited pre-employment inquiries. You may want to approach employers in a positive manner, offering this advice as a service to them. 4. Contract Compliance/Affirmative Action Plan The very energetic commission may want to amend its local human rights ordinance to require larger businesses with city contracts to have a certified affirmative action plan, similar to what is required for state and federal contracts. This project would probably require a staff person, at least part-time. The Minnesota Department of Human Rights is available for technical assistance in developing such a program. Page 2 - Activities/Projects 5. Sponsor an "Equal Employment Opportunity/Discrimination in Employment" seminar for local employers. Your commission may want to sponsor a seminar (possibly in conjunction with your local Job Service, Chamber of Commerce, etc. ) to provide training on discrimination law. Depending on resources, the Department of Human Rights may be able to provide the speaker, or if you charge a fee, you can hire consultants for this type of session. 6. Sponsor a seminar for local property owners/managers/realtors on housing discrimination. As with the employment seminar, the Minnesota Department of Human Rights may be able to provide the speaker. Coordinate with local realtors association, etc. 7. Sponsor cultural sensitivity training for local police force. With ethnic diversity in Minnesota increasing, many formerly homogeneous cities could use some sensitivity training for law enforcement personnel. You may be able to obtain a speaker/trainer from some of the ethnic councils (Minnesota Migrant Council, Council on Black Minnesotans, etc. ) . 8. Monitor accessibility of public property. Conduct a review of handicap accessibility of sidewalks, buildings, etc. , and report results to the appropriate government body (City Council, County Commission, etc. ) Technical and advocacy assistance should be available from disability organizations (e.g. , Minnesota Council on Disabilities). 9. Promote youth membership and involvement. Designate one of your commission seats for a youth member to establish a liaison for increasing awareness and participation in human rights activities among the youth. 10. Media Coverage Design public service announcements or press releases on human rights issues for local cable television, radio, and newspaper. You may also want to encourage media coverage of your meetings, particularly when exciting or controversial issues are to be discussed. 11. Testing The ambitious local commissions may want to design testing programs to monitor local rental or employment practices. The Minnesota Department of Human Rights is available for training and technical assistance for testing.