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Home My WebLink About12/03/1996 MAPLEWOOD HUMAN RELATIONS COMMISSION Tuesday, December 3, 1996 Conference Room A AGENDA I. CALL TO ORDER II. APPROVAL OF MINUTES III. APPROVAL OF AGENDA IV. OLD BUSINESS A. Update on Premier Bank contact - Mike M. ✓B. Finalize Diversity AVARUA Event - All V . Update on School Lists - Carole VD. Update on Commission appointment - Sherrie V. NEW BUSINESS r)t A. Draft letter and publicity for Diversity Award Event and assign HRC members as contacts - All v-B. Vote on new officers for 1997 - All /C. Begin work on annual report - All VI. OTHER BUSINESS VII. REPORTS A. City of Maplewood B. Agenda items for next time VIII. ADJOURNMENT C:\WPWIN60\HRCV+GENDA • Maplewood Human Relations Commission Minutes from Nov. 6, 1996 Present: Marie Koehler, Gordy Heininger, Regina Laroche-Theune,Lynne Croes, Maria Cantu-Costdl,a,Linda Wainio, Carol Cude Ex-officio: Mike McGuire, Sherrie Le. The meeting was moved to Wednesday this month as election day was Tuesday,Nov_ 5. One candidate was interviewed prior to the meeting- Approval of minutes: A motion to approve the minutes was moved, seconded and passed_ ApPr_QnLo_f agenda: A motion to approve the agenda was made. Some items to share were added to the other business portion. Motion was seconded and passed. Old Business A. Planning for Diversity event: Mike and Regina have done some research into the cost of putting together a diversity calender. Mike met with Kathy Moss at Speedy Printing and had some samples and a cost sheet The suggestion was made to ask Premier bank to either provide some financial support (use money for this instead of a$500 award to a school), or if they usually have a calender printed,to ask them if they would use pictures we acquired through our contest Another suggestion was made to include some dates indicating various cultural events (such as February being Black History month). We will discuss this more at our next meeting. Other ideas included asking the students from Mounds Park to perform at an event in conjunction with the city's 40th anniversary. This led to Gordy sharing information on the anniversary planning group's latest thoughts and ideas. They have scrapped the theme of'building on diverse traditions' and are going with "Maplewood- A great place." There will a July 4 celebration and we could plan something related to diversity at that event. New Business A. _Sponsoring community event: This continues from our school-related diversity event If we don't have something, or in addition to it, on July 4th, what about the August open house/night out? We discussed the idea of getting more ethnic food choices available. B. Plan for aolici n ()nations: Carol is still working on the school contact list. We need to decide if secondary students should be included in the contest The award would be to have their entry on the calender if they won. Mike will contact Premier Bank about the calender iteaLynne will contact, COMPAS, a multicultural arts organization, for more of their program handbooks to make available to the members. Other Business: Marie had some items to pass around. (Overs) Reports A, City of Maplewood: The police department is recruiting for new officers. There are more female and minority applicants than in the past. B, Agenda for next meeting: Items include-community event, calender project, Ietter to schools, new officers, new member selection, school contact fist and first look at revising annual report. At 8:00 and 8.15, two additional candidates were interviewed. After this was completed, a vote was taken for the two names that would be referred to the city council. A motion to adjourn the meeting was made, seconded and passed at 8:45 pm- Respectfiilly submitted, Lynne C. oes Recording Secretary CITY OF MAPLEWOOD HUMAN RELATIONS COMMISSION COMMISaION MEMBER APPOINTMENT DATE EXPIRATION Maria Cantu-Costilla 12/18/95 12/31/96 1255 Larpenteur Avenue E. Maplewood, MN 55109 Home: 771-0757 Work: 296-8357 FAX: 297-5151 Lynne Croes, Secretary 01/23/95 12/31/97 2330 Dorland Court Maplewood, MN 55119 Home: 738-1671 Work: 297-3785 FAX: 297-1329 Carol J. Cude, Vice Chair 01/01/95 12/31/97 2546 E. Idaho Avenue Maplewood, MN 55119 Home: 770-1052 Gordon A. Heininger, Chair 01/01/96 12/31/98 796 East Bellwood Avenue Maplewood, MN 55117 Home: 772-2300 Marie Koehler 10/11/93 12/31/96 1991 Stanich Court Maplewood, MN 55109 Home: 777-3007 Work: 297-3640 FAX: 297-7155 Regina Laroche-Theune 01/01/96 12/31/98 1781 Gulden Place Maplewood, MN 55109 Home: 773-0673 Linda Wainio 03/27/95 12/31/97 1745 Howard Street North Maplewood, MN 55109 Home: 777-2453 Work: 770-4675 Michael A. McGuire, City Manager Sherrie L. Le, Human Resource Director Maplewood City Hall Maplewood City Hall 1830 East County Road B 1830 East County Road B Maplewood, MN 55109 Maplewood, MN 55109 Work: 770-4525 Work: 770-4527 FAX: 770-4506 Terrie Carlson, Executive Secretary Maplewood City Hall 1830 East County Road B Maplewood, MN 55109 Work: 770-4524 HRC\MEMBER.LST 12/96 CITY OF ., )11 MAPL ]EWOOD. ,,e, 1 t:: ;/:1 �.4- 1830 E. COUNTY ROAD B MAPLEWOOD MINNESOTA 55109 tip- PARKS AND RECREATION DEPARTMENT 612-770-4570 December 5, 1996 Mr. Gordon Heininger, Chairperson Maplewood Human Relations Commission 796 East Bellwood Avenue Maplewood, MN 55117 Dear Mr. Heininger: During the past two years, the Maplewood Parks and Recreation Commission has addressed a number of cultural diversity issues relating to the use of public park facilities. Three specific issues we have discussed include: 1. Harvest Park has become the "unofficial" meeting area for approximately 350 to 400 Southeast Asians on a regular weekday basis. Issues that have evolved due to this heavy park usage include increased litter, traffic control and concerns expressed by neighbors regarding the "takeover" of their neighborhood park by non-Maplewood residents. 2. The Parks and Recreation Commission recently coordinated the design process for Western Hills Park. The Parks and Recreation Commission made a concerted effort to involve the Southeast Asian population throughout the design process. Although we felt we were successful in soliciting some input, the Commission is interested in other ways to involve all Maplewood residents in the park design/planning process. 3. The Maplewood Community Center has experienced a wide range of cultural usage which has challenged staff to increase sensitivity to cultural diversity issues, we have improved our hiring practices to better reflect our society and provided increased training on human relations issues and how to diffuse potentially volatile situations. Equal Opportunity Employer Mr. Gordon Heininger Page 2 December 5, 1996 The Parks and Recreation Commission would like to invite you and your fellow commissioners to attend a joint meeting to discuss these and other cultural diversity issues at a special meeting on Monday, February 10. The meeting would be held at 7 p.m. in the Maplewood Room located in City Hall. I would appreciate it if you could review this issue with your commissioners and contact Human Resources Director Sherrie Le at 770-4527 to arrange a meeting date or address any questions and/or concerns that you might have. I look forward to meeting with you and your fellow commissioners on this issue. Sincerely, (}___.-- -•—• 1/// " '" , / Peter M. Fischer, Chairperson Maplewood Parks and Recreation Commission kd\heininge.ftr c: Sherrie L. Le, Human Resources Director Michael A. McGuire, City Manager DISCRIMINATION COMPLAINT Sherrie Le called the Chair concerning a discrimination complaint, because the complainant is related to a commission member. After numerous attempts, the person was contacted on 12-31-96 . His report is as follows: On December 7 , 1996, at about 9 : 30 in the morning, LL stopped with two coworkers at the Tom Thumb on the corner of McKnight and Larpenteur to get gas and coffee/pop. All three men are black. While one man put gas in the company truck, LL went into the store. He gave the clerk a twenty dollar bill and said that he wanted ten dollars worth of gas. He told the clerk to hold the money until the man was done pumping. He got some taffy and some coffee. One of the other men came into the store to get some coke. LL started reading the jokes aloud on the wrapper of the taffy while they were waiting for the other man to finish pumping the gas. There were several other customers present, and they were all laughing at the jokes. The other man finished pumping the gas and entered the store. On duty were two female attendants. One was behind the counter and one was fixing a Christmas display. They started whispering together, and then the men paid their bills and left. As they were leaving, police cars started pulling into the lot, and then started following him. One car pulled him over. The police officer said that he had pulled him over because the trailer being pulled behind their truck had no license plate. LL said that it had a plastic bracket and that it must have broken. Also the tabs on the truck had expired. He asked the policeman, "What' s the real reason that you stopped me?" He asked which one of the ladies in the store had called the police. The police officer said, "You know how two ladies are. " No tickets were issued. LL stated that he told the police officer he felt that they had handled the situation properly. LL went back to the store on the following Monday with his mother. When he asked to speak to the manager, he was sent to one of the ladies that had been on duty that night. When he asked her why she had called the police, LL stated that she did not answer. When he asked her if they had done something wrong, LL stated that she started defending herself. LL asked if it was wrong for blacks to get gas at Tom Thumb. LL feels that she was intimidated by the three of them. LL feels she would not have called if it had been three white men. LL said that all three of them have perms, were wearing bandanas, and were dressed in dirty work clothes because they do construction work. LL reported that this happens to him all the time. He has not decided what he will do next. OTHER INFORMATION Incident report time: 9 : 39 a.m. , complaint made by Audrey, saying they were nervous because three black men were loitering in the store. Police captain stated that several armed robberies had occurred in the neighborhood recently. No police report was filed. LL stated that he is hard to reach because he is self employed. AGENDA NO. be,icn Ly Council: AGENDA REPORT Emflorse3 Modifi ecl Rei ecteci TO: City Manager Date 1:�-�3-`i FROM: Sherrie Le, Human Resource Director RE: HUMAN RELATIONS COMMISSION REAPPOINTMENT DATE: December 10, 1996 INTRODUCTION Maria Cantu-Costilla was first appointed to the Commission on 12/18/95 to fill an existing vacancy. This term expires on 12/31/96. RECOMMENDATION It is recommended that she be reappointed to a three-year term which would expire on 12/31/99. tmc • Oil- / RESOLUTION OF APPRECIATION WHEREAS, Marie Koehler has been a member of the Human Relations Commission of Maplewood, Minnesota since October of 1993, and served as Chair of the Commission in 1995, and has served faithfully in those capacities; and WHEREAS, the Commission has appreciated Marie's experience, insights and good judgment; and WHEREAS, she has given her time and energy without compensation for the betterment of the City of Maplewood; and WHEREAS, she has shown dedication to her duties and has contributed her leadership and effort for the benefit of the City. NOW, THEREFORE, IT IS HEREBY RESOLVED for and on behalf of the City of Maplewood, Minnesota, and the citizens of the City, that Marie Koehler is hereby extended our gratitude and appreciation for her service, and our wishes for continued success in the future. Passed by the Maplewood City Council on December 23, 1996 Gary Bastian, Mayor Michael McGuire, City Manager Attest: Karen Guilfoile, Clerk