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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHRC Minutes 081318 MINUTES August 13, 2018 6:00 pm – 7:30 pm John Link Government Services Center 200 S. Cameron Street, Hillsborough NC MEMBERS PRESENT STAFF Debby Stroman Tara May, Civil Rights Specialist Jacqulyn Podger Melvyn Blackwell, Intake Specialist Scott Goldsmith Annette Moore, Director Matt Case Nancy White Nora Spencer Allison Mahaley Marc Xavier MEMBERS ABSENT Stephanie Harrell (excused) Joy Preslar Ana Garcia-Turner (excused) Rebecca High (excused) GUESTS Olivia Fisher I. Call to Order A. The meeting was called to order at 6:10pm by Dr. Debby Stroman, Chair. A quorum was present. II. Introductions A. Human Relations Commission (HRC) members, staff, and guest introduced themselves and did an ice breaker. III. Minutes Approval – May 14, 2018 A. HRC members reviewed the minutes from the previous HRC meeting. Mr. Scott Goldsmith made a motion to approve May minutes. Mr. Matt Case suggested that an edit be made to section IV:B(Power Attorney Clinic be changed to Power of Attorney 1 Clinic). The motion to approve post edit was seconded by Ms. Jacqulyn Podger. Minutes for May were approved. IV. County Updates A. Human rights & Relations (HR&R) staff shared an image of the Fair Housing bus ad. Ms. Annette Moore explained that the ad will run for one year. Ms. Moore also announced that as a result of a recent conciliation the Respondent in the case will fund a similar fair housing ad on a Chapel Hill Transit bus. B. Ms. Moore and Ms. Tara May introduced HRC members to the new website. Ms. May explained, the target date for the launch of the website may be delayed longer than the original projected launch date. C. Ms. Moore reported that the BOCC approved for the HRC to receive an extra $3,000 added to the HRC budget. The budget for FY 18-19 is $8,000. D. Ms. Moore reminded HRC members they are required to attend a fair housing training. She noted that funds have been set aside for each HRC member to attend one. She also noted that she has already found ideal fair housing trainings happening next year that she recommends members to attend. HR&R will take care of HRC training related expenses. HR&R staff will notify members of the dates of the trainings and members will decide amongst themselves which training they would like to attend. E. Ms. Moore also noted that there are funds set aside for racial equity training for 80 people (including HRC members). V. Board structure A. Ms. May noted that we currently have 12 seats being occupied. Annette highlighted that at least two of those 12 seats are supposed to be occupied by the towns (Carrboro and Hillsborough). Ms. May also noted that currently no one holds a seat that is from Carrboro. Ms. May will send HRC members an updated roster. VI. Updates A. HRC members discussed civility and the climate going on in the USA. She Dr. Stroman explained how the word civility may have been high jacked, misused or overused. She suggested; not moving forward with a previous HRC topic, to possibly begin a civility campaign, and the quorum agreed. Dr. Stroman added that she and County Commissioner Mia Boroughs were invited to be on the radio next week to talk about civility. A discussion was opened to advise Dr. Stroman on talking points to focus on the aspect of civil engagement as it pertains to civility. B. Ms. May noted the HRC t-shirts shipment should be received soon. Members should have their shirts at the next meeting. C. Dr. Stroman discussed her conversation with Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) chair, Mark Dorosin. She highlighted that she shared with him that HRC members are putting together a database of organizations within the county that are doing work conducive to racial equity. Dr. Stroman and Ms. Moore will get together to discuss the possibility of organizing or partnering with said organizations. 2 D. Dr. Stroman will get the schedules for REI (Racial Equity Institute) trainings to the four HRC members that have yet to take the training. HR&R will register and pay for the HRC members. E. HRC members discussed media outreach and creating HRC awareness. Dr. Stroman called for volunteers who would be interested in writing blogs or being interviewed (i.e. local radio or newspaper) to express what’s going on in Orange County communities and/or the mission of the HRC. Ms. Podger and Ms. Allison Mahaley volunteered. VII. HRC Events & Committee Reports Ms. Moore discussed the significance of planning ahead and how coming up with ideal dates now, will enable HR&R staff to assist and support the HRC better. A. Forum i. Ms. Mahaley suggested that the next forum topic be citizenship, refugee status, and seeking asylum. Dr. Stroman invited members to email her with any other ideas for forum topics. ii. The forum will be held February or March 2019, and the topics will either be “confederate” or “citizenship”. B. Pauli Murray Awards i. Ms. Ana Garcia Turner, Mr. Matt Case, and Ms. Podger, Ms. Nancy White, and Dr. Stroman will be on the subcommittee. Dr. Stroman noted that they will try to work with Durham in the planning of the Pauli Murray Awards (PMA). ii. PMA will be held late July 2019 or February 2019. C. Community Read i. The community read on the book, Evicted, will be held sometime after the community conversation. A subcommittee will be established for the Community read. Ms. White highlighted how the community Read and the community conversation will capture different types of audiences. D. Community Conversation i. Dr. Stroman highlighted her discussions with Commissioner Dorosin about HRC’s plan to have a community conversation around the Silent Sam monument. She noted how Commissioner Dorosin suggested the Jefferson Davis Highway (JDH) topic be added as a talking point. Members discussed the possibility of adding the JDH. Members discussed the possibility of this being an opportunity to shed light on issues that oppress people as well as the contrary the negative possibility of opening “pandora’s box”. ii. Dr. Stroman sent around a sign-up sheet for those that would like to be a part of the Community Conversation or the Community Read. iii. The Community Conversation will be held sooner/before the Community Read. Ms. Moore suggested that the community 3 read should be done later in the fiscal year to have time for promotion and advertising. VIII. HRC Retreat A. HRC reflected on the HRC retreat and how they felt it was conducive to reevaluating the mission and goals of the HRC. B. Members revisited the discussion of changing the HRC mission statement. Ms. Moore explained members the process of going about changing the mission statement. A draft of a new mission statement must be created by members, and she will present it to the BOCC as proposal to change the HRC mission statement. IX. Other Business/Announcements/Upcoming Events A. Ms. Mahaley shared the information of the Hillsborough Sanctuary Coalition (HSC). They have started dialogue in the town about sanctuary and what that means for immigrants and what it means to be safe in one’s own community. She noted there is currently a women in sanctuary in Chapel Hill and several others in the area. She explained that she and the HSC will be tabling at the Fairview Live event on August 18, 2018 B. HSC will be hosting the showing of a documentary called; America Inside-out: “White Anxiety” on August 22, 2018. She encouraged members to check out the documentary. X. Adjourn A. The meeting was adjourned at 7:26pm. B. NEXT MEETING: September 10, 2018 6:00pm at Animal Services in Chapel Hill. 4