HomeMy WebLinkAbout10/07/2003 Maplewood Human Relations Commission
Meeting Minutes
Tuesday, October 7, 2003
Members Present: Barbara Damchik-Dykes, Elmo Mattox, Roberta Hawkins, Gordy
Heininger, and Carol Watnemo
Members Absent: Marilyn Gebauer
Ex-Officio: Kevin Rabbett
Visitor: Jeff Kringle
Guest Speaker: Joy Mueller
I. Called to Order: The meeting was called to order at 7:00 p.m. by Elmo Mattox.
II. Approval of the minutes: Motion was made by Barbara Damchik-Dykes to
approve the minutes. Seconded by Gordy Heininger and passed.
III. Approval of Agenda: The following additions were made to the agenda: 1.)
Commission vacancy, 2.) Letter of thanks, 3.) City brochure, 4.) Bias crime
report, 5.) Applicants, 6.) Duties of chair and vice chair, 7.) Planning for yearly
calendar, 8.) Questions for interviewing candidates, and 9.) The poster/essay
contest.
IV. Guest Speaker: Joy Mueller, who is District 622's Diversity Coordinator, spoke
about what the school district has done for diversity training. She suggested that
to increase communication between this commission and the school district we
could: 1.) get a letter out to the principal at each school and to Joy at the
beginning of the year, and then the subject could become part of the curriculum,
2.) we can give Joy the information and she will get it to the cultural liaison in
each school, and 3.) we could ask the superintendent at the district to speak at a
principals' meeting,
V. Old Business:
A. Barb raised the question that the poster contest seems to only interest a small
number of students so what is the goal of the poster contest?
B. Bobbie suggested that any contest could address the entire community and
that the scope could be broadened.
C. Gordy had done some research on the Roseville statewide essay contest. The
committee discussed the purpose of the poster/essay contest and decided that
the focus should be essay or poster, but not both. Kevin reminded us that
training is available for setting up an essay contest by the Minnesota Human
Right Commission. The committee decided that the objective for the contest
is to make the public aware of the functions of the Human Relations
Commission.
Maplewood Human Relations Commission
October 7, 2003 Meeting Minutes
Page 2
D. Elmo and Gordy will contact Joy regarding a debate and to have her assist in
selecting a topic.
E. The poster/essay contest will no longer be sponsored by the Human Relations
Commission.
VI. New Business:
A. There is one vacancy on the Commission. Kevin will post the open position.
B. A concern was brought to the commission from the Chief of Police and the
City Manager that city information is only in English. Barb and Bobbie will
research what the City of Minneapolis does, and bring that information to our
next meeting.
C. Bias Crime Report. A 14-year-old girl was assaulted on a school bus when
asked to share a seat. It will be followed up by the police liaison officer.
D. The information sent to potential candidates for the commission was discussed
and it was determined that the information was adequate and helpful. Kevin
will bring to the next meeting, a copy of what is sent out to candidates.
E. The activities of the commission, which are listed in the annual report, will be
posted on the web.
F. It was decided that an annual report would be sent to the new member.
G. Barb was thanked for writing the letter to the employees who completed the
Annual Report.
IX. Adjournment: Bobbie made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 8:30 p.m. Gordy
seconded the motion. The motion passed.
Next Meeting: Wednesday, November 5, 2003
(Due to the elections on Tuesday, November 4, the next HRC meeting
was changed to Wednesday.)