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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHRC minutes 121117At HUMAN RELATIONS COMMISSION Minutes Monday, December 11, 2017 6:00 pm -7:30 pm Orange County Animal Services Conference Room 1601 Eubanks Road, Chapel Hill NC MEMBERS PRESENT STAFF Sue Kinzer Tara May, Civil Rights Specialist Nancy White Jackie Podger Nora Spencer Matt Case Debby Stroman Ana Garcia - Turner Joy Preslar Marc Xavier MEMBERS ABSENT Apnl t-nang �excusea) Scott Goldsmith (excused) Elizabeth O'Quinn Daniel Ryan GUESTS L Call to Order A. The meeting was called to order at 6:04pm by Dr. Debby Stroman, Vice Chair. A quorum was present. B. Dr. Stroman reminded members to encourage people they know to apply for the open seats on the Human Relations Commission (HRC). IL Introductions A. HRC members and staff introduced themselves and gave good news as an ice breaker. III. Minutes Approval — November 13, 2017 A. HRC members reviewed the minutes. B. A motion was made to approve the minutes from November 13, 2017 [Podger, Kinzer]. 1 N. County Updates A. Dr. Stroman stated that Ms. Annette Moore is the Director that the HRC will be working with but that she was unable to attend the meeting due to illness. B. Ms. Tara May announced that the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) voted to approve moving the Human Rights division out of the Housing, Human Rights, and Community Development Department and making it a new department referred to as the Department of Human Rights and Relations (the Department). She reiterated Ms. Bonnie Hammersley's announcement from the November meeting that Ms. Annette Moore will be the director of Human Rights and Relations. C. Ms. May stated that on December 12, 2017 at 7:OOpm at Southern Human Services Center in Chapel Hill she will give a presentation to the BOCC asking them to approve a proclamation to recognize December 15, 2017 as Bill of Rights Day. Ms. May invited HRC members to attend in the audience and show their support for the proclamation. Ms. May stated that Ms. Moore suggested that the HRC could vote to give the proclamation back to Chair Mark Dorosin of the BOCC and speak about his dedication to ensuring Civil Rights in order to honor his work. 1. Dr. Stroman stated that she would work on something to say for that. D. Ms. May also stated that Ms. Moore stated that the HRC needed to decide dates and themes for the HRC Forum and the Pauli Murray Awards and should consider holding both events in February 2018, as February is Human Relations Month. E. Ms. May announced that the Department would be holding a Power of Attorney Clinic in April 2018 and encouraged HRC members to consider volunteering or participating if they can. F. Ms. May also relayed that Ms. Moore is committed to getting Fair Housing training done for HRC members within the next two to three months or as soon as reasonable. 1. Dr. Stroman asked Ms. May to determine whether the trainings would take place at different times and dates or at one time. She stated that given everyone's schedule, it may be unrealistic to only offer one training date. 2. Ms. Jackie Podger asked who would conduct the training. a. Ms. May stated that Ms. Moore knows many people in the field and is looking into inviting one of them to do the training. 3. Mr. Matt Case asked why the Fair Housing hearing function is not under one of the advisory boards in the Housing and Community Development department. a. Ms. May explained that the Civil Rights Ordinance requires that the HRC serve that function. 4. Mr. Case asked for clarification on if Fair Housing is the majority of what the HRC does and asked what the connection to Fair Housing was for the board. a. Ms. May stated that Housing Discrimination hearings are only a small a rarely used piece of the HRC's charge and that most of the HRC's focus should be on social justice issues in the community and building relationships among citizens. She also stated that the hearings involve allegations of discrimination which is a social justice issue and why that responsibility lies with the HRC. G. Dr. Stroman mentioned the complaint flow chart that staff made and encouraged HRC members to direct any questions to Ms. May. 2 I . Ms. May briefly described the chart and asked members to contact her outside of meetings with questions so that the next two meetings can be focused on planning the upcoming events. V. Appointments and Elections A. Dr. Stroman expressed interest for the Chair position. Dr. Stroman also announced that Mr. Matt Case expressed interest for the Vice -Chair position. B. Dr. Stroman asked for discussion on the nominations and invited members to step forward. C. Dr. Stroman clarified that Ms. Podger is still the Secretary of the HRC. D. A motion was made to nominate Matt Case for Vice -Chair of the HRC [Podger, Kinzer], approved unanimously. E. A motion was made to nominate Debby Stroman for Chair of the HRC [White, Podger], approved unanimously. F. HRC Members reviewed the new application from Ms. Rebecca High and discussed potentially inviting her to a meeting before recommending her. 1. Ms. Spencer suggested that they vote to recommend her to the BOCC and then call her to let her know that she has been recommended, brief her on the time commitment, and invite her to a meeting. G. A motion was made to recommend Rebecca High for nomination to the HRC by the BOCC [Spencer, Xavier], unanimously approved. 1. Mr. Case stated he would contact Ms. High. VI. Annual Report and Work Plan A. Due December 15, 2017 B. Dr. Stroman stated that Ms. May would do the draft. C. Ms. May asked the HRC for their input on one question dealing with topics of interest for the upcoming year 1. Mr. Case stated that the HRC has not discussed and processed anything as a group. 2. Dr. Stroman stated that she was hesitant to put anything down as well. 3. Ms. May stated that she would look at past work plans for guidance. D. Ms. Joy Preslar asked if the HRC was interested in revisiting a Hate Crime hotline that had come up earlier in the year. The topic was tabled for a later meeting. VII. HRC Events A. Dr. Stroman stated that the HRC has usually held events in January and February and suggested that the HRC could stick with that timeline for 2018 and look at expanding or changing dates in years after. B. HRC Forum 1. Dr. Stroman stated that the HRC Forum is scheduled for January 28, 2018 (time TBD) at the Whitted Building in Hillsborough. 2. Dr. Stroman stated that a pertinent topic for the Forum could be sexual violence /sexual assault. 3. Ms. Preslar and Mr. Marc Xavier stated that the Forum usually takes place 3:30pm- 5:OOpm. 4. Ms. Preslar stated that she was in favor of moving the Forum to February. a. Mr. Xavier stated that scheduling around sports events would be important to increase attendance. 5. Ms. Spencer suggested moving the Forum to March since the Pauli Murray Awards are held in February. C. Pauli Murray Awards 1. Ms. Podger stated that the attendance at the Pauli Murray Awards was low in 2017. b. Ms. Preslar agreed and stated the audience was made up mostly of the winners' families. 2. Ms. Preslar reminded members that they had discussed coordinating with the Pauli Murray Project on the Pauli Murray Awards which could distribute the responsibility of the event. a. Dr. Stroman reiterated the partnership idea. b. Ms. Preslar clarified that the Awards are different than the type of events the Project might usually do. 3. Ms. May stated that there is not yet a date for the Pauli Murray Awards. 4. Dr. Stroman stated that she would like to see an Orange County native as the focus of an awards ceremony. She also asked if anyone was aware why Pauli Murray was selected as the focus of the Awards in Orange County. 5. Mr. Xavier suggested combining the events for sake of time. 6. Ms. Podger stated that they needed to consider marketing time, as the 2017 Pauli Murray Awards were planned in a short amount of time and impacted attendance. 7. Ms. Garcia - Turner asked how students were asked to write the essays. a. Mr. Xavier and Ms. Preslar stated that both Orange County and Chapel Hill - Carrboro schools are notified. 8. Mr. Xavier stated that the planning is already behind schedule. 9. Dr. Stroman asked if the HRC should continue to have its own event rather than partnering since there are a lot of events dedicated to Pauli Murray already in Durham and the Triangle area. a. Ms. Sue Kinzer stated there would be no point if no one attends. 10. Ms. Garcia - Turner asked if Durham does a similar awards /essays event, and if so, suggested partnering specifically on that event in order to reach a broader audience. 11. Ms. Preslar stated that Pauli Murray was a groundbreaker in a number of fields and also preached at the Chapel of the Cross in Chapel Hill and the Awards have been in Orange County for a long time. 12. Dr. Stroman stated that the HRC did already decide to focus the essay topic on the Frederick Douglass Bicentennial. a. Ms. May stated that Ms. Moore suggested trying to coordinate the essay contest with James Williams, Vice - President of the Chapel Hill - Carrboro NAACP, since they are holding other events in the schools on the bicentennial. b. Mr. Xavier stated that he recently spoke with Mr. Williams and that they had not determined dates yet for the bicentennial events. M 13. Ms. Spencer reiterated Mr. Xavier's previous thought and suggested that they somehow combine the events to have one large event that would draw more people in. 14. Dr. Stroman and Ms. Podger suggested having another event later on in addition to the Pauli Murray Awards that focused on an Orange County native. 15. Ms. Spencer explained her idea of having a panel of speakers that focuses on women's rights in the present or another identified topic and then after that discussion, conducting the awards ceremony portion, and potentially having the BOCC come to talk about Human Rights in Orange County. a. Ms. Preslar and Ms. Podger stated that the BOCC has generally been very supportive of and attended the HRC's events. 16. Mr. Case stated that focusing the Forum discussion on sexual assault would be a draw and that the Forum and the Awards could be better connected if students were to write about that issue. 17. Dr. Stroman clarified that the two main options discussed so far are combining the Forum and the Awards or holding the Forum and then partnering with Durham for the Awards. a. Ms. Spencer stated that she wants to keep the events in- county and others agreed. 18. Mr. Xavier mentioned that Durham may or may not have an awards event for Pauli Murray. a. Dr. Stroman stated that if they don't they may still be interested in partnering for Orange County's. 19. Ms. Preslar stated that it would be easy to get in touch with the Pauli Murray Project to see if they are interested in partnering. D. Dr. Stroman summarized that the Forum will be moved to February and will be focused on sexual assault /violence. 1. Ms. May will check dates. a. Ms. White stated that the first Sunday in February is the Super Bowl. b. Dr. Stroman stated to avoid sports' dates. 2. Ms. Preslar suggested the title "Me, too" in reference to the social media campaign for survivors of sexual assault to share their experiences. 3. Dr. Stroman asked for ideas on keynote speakers or panelists a. Mr. Xavier stated that they must be careful with speakers in order for the topic to not become politicized. 4. Ms. Spencer and Ms. Podger suggested moving the Forum to March due to time and also to fit with Women's History Month. a. Ms. Spencer suggested March 11, 2018. 5. Mr. Xavier stated that February would be better. a. Ms. Podger stated that it was tough to get the event planned for 2017 in the short time frame. 6. Mr. Case pointed out that the dates may also have to depend on when speakers are available. 7. Mr. Xavier and Ms. Preslar expressed the importance of the event being gender inclusive. VIII. Subcommittees 1. HRC Forum a. Subcommittee: Joy Preslar, , Jackie Podger, Nora Spencer (chair), Nancy White, and Marc Xavier 2. Pauli Murray Awards a. Ms. Preslar will contact Pauli Murray Project for partnership with Awards. b. Dr. Stroman will follow up with James Williams about the essay contest. 3. Community Read a. Dr. Stroman stated that the HRC should still read the book from last year. b. Dr. Stroman stated that UNC starts their Community Read meetings in August and September. i. The HRC will need to focus on marketing for the community. C. Subcommittee: Debby Stroman, Nancy White (chair), AnaGarcia- Turner 4. Community Conversation a. Dr. Stroman stated that the previous Community Conversation was about racism in America and the Confederate flag's presence in public schools. b. Dr. Stroman stated that events could be pop -up based on the need for a conversation on a particular topic or could be planned so that people will expect it around the same time every year. i. Ms. White stated that it should be both so that the body can respond when something happens but could also have a set event every year. ii. Mr. Xavier stated that the benefit to having timely events is that people will be interested. iii. Ms. White stated that it's good to have a set event every year so that the community knows that there is a body backed by the BOCC that is interested in hearing from residents about social justice issues. iv. Ms. Garcia - Turner suggested a set event around October each year. C. Ms. Spencer asked what avenues residents had to bring issues to the HRC outside of events. i. Ms. Podger mentioned that the HRC needs to be careful with their approach to issues so as not to deter opposing voices from coming forward. ii. Mr. Xavier stated that all topics would need to focus on the real issues vs. the politicization of them. iii. Mr. Case stated that it's important to consider the structure of a conversation in addition to the topic and that having a template would be beneficial. d. Ms. Spencer suggested that in addition to a formal conversation, the HRC could add 30 minutes before or after a meeting every so often for residents to bring issues forward that they would like to see the HRC focus on. e. Dr. Stroman summarized that the HRC would discuss at the next meeting, either invite residents to special meetings with the HRC to discuss their concerns and views and /or holding a standing community conversation around October of each year. IX. Other Business /Announcements/Upcoming Events D A. Dr. Stroman stated that she would like to market the HRC on the HRC's website. B. Dr. Stroman mentioned the Choose Civility campaign she sent out previous which would engage all municipalities and the county and focusing on interactions. C. Dr. Stroman stated that she is interested in seeing a breakdown of the budget the HRC has for spending. D. Dr. Stroman stated that she would like all HRC members to attend racial equity training. E. Dr. Stroman stated that she would be present at the BOCC meeting and would speak about Commissioner Dorosin's work in Civil Rights. F. Mr. Case asked for clarity from the charge and social justice impact goals /tools. X. Adjourn A. The meeting was adjourned at 7:33pm. B. NEXT MEETING: January 8, 2018 6:OOpm at Animal Services 7