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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHRC Minutes 031119 4CHUMAN RELATIONS COMMISSION Cultivating Community Through Social Justice MINUTES March 11, 2019 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 Matt Case Melvyn Blackwell, Intake Specialist Stephanie Harrell Annette Moore, Director Marc Xavier Stephanie Harrell Joy Preslar Rebecca High MEMBERS ABSENT Allison Mahaley (excused) Ana Garcia-Turner (excused) Nora Spencer (excused) GUESTS Bryant Colson Ryan Phillips I. Call to Order A. The meeting was called to order at 6:12pm by Dr. Debby Stroman, Chair. A quorum was present. II. Introductions A. Human Relations Commission (HRC) members, staff, and guests introduced themselves. III. Talk with Former Chair A. Ms. Annette Moore introduced Mr. Bryant Colson. Mr. Colson, former HRC chair, discussed his experiences and the milestones the HRC reached during his tenure. He discussed the core values and the courage to have diverse conversations that he feels 1 the HRC stands for. He emphasized the importance for HRC members to interact with the community to get its member's "voices" (thoughts and opinions) on issues and communicate that to the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC). IV. Minutes Approval —January 14, 2019 A. HRC members reviewed the minutes from the previous HRC meeting. Mr. Matt Case made a motion to approve the January minutes. Ms. Joy Preslar seconded the motion. All were in favor to approve the January minutes. V. County Updates A. Ms. Tara May reported that she will be sending out a second doodle poll tomorrow for Fair Housing training dates in an attempt to find a date that works well with HRC members. Ms. Annette Moore explained that she wants to have as many HRC members present for the training as possible. Ms. Moore is considering having the training recorded. She expressed the importance of HRC members to have this training. B. Ms. May reported that Ms. Nancy White had to resign, because she was moving. C. Ms. Moore discussed board structure and if opportunities to join the HRC are being promoted in a way to get a diverse pool of applicants. The group will later discuss different alternatives and approaches to getting diverse applicants. D. Ms. Moore reminded HRC members of the Women's History Month event on March 31, 2019 at the Whitted Building (from 3pm-5pm). There will be a luncheon as well and that will be by invitation. Ms. Moore explained that the speaker, Linda Sarsour, is being invited to discuss intersectional feminism, its history, and being a Muslim-Palestinian- American woman organizing for social justice. We are waiting on the contract to be signed, before promotion begins. VI. Outside Agency Funding A. Ms. May announced that she will need all HRC member's to submit their Outside agency evaluations by Friday (3/15/19). VI I. HRC Annual Report and Work Plan VIII. Updates A. Joy Preslar will author the blog for March 2019. Her topic will be related to Women's History Month. IX. HRC Events & Committee Reports A. Ms. Moore reported that she has received support around "One Orange" and the idea of addressing inequities on a systemic level. Ms. Moore explained how she and the directors of the health department and social services will be attending a Government Alliance on Racial Equity (GARE) conference in April. From this training, they will begin to develop a strategic plan to address racial equity on a systemic level. Ms. Moore also noted that she made a specific request to the county manager's office for monies to be directed to efforts in addressing racial equity in Orange County systems and/or One Orange racial equity collaborations. B. HRC members discussed possible dates to have the Community Read. The Community read will be on April 3, 2019. It will be held at the Southern Human Service Center in Chapel Hill, from 6:00-7:30pm. X. Other Business/Announcements/Upcoming events 2 A. Ms. Stephanie Harrell noted that she still has to do her 2nd day of REI training. Human Rights & Relations staff will arrange for Ms. Harrell to receive the remainder of the training. B. Dr. Stroman discussed the current issue or conflict as it relates to Chapel Hill Carrboro City Schools (CHCCS) district. Dr. Stroman noted an anonymous person wrote the HRC a letter and requesting the HRC to mediate this conflict. She explained the main discussion being had was about putting more resources towards the Mandarin program. However those opposed to this idea are posing the concern of black and brown children disparities in education, more specifically, English and reading. Mr. Case motioned that Ms. Moore and Dr. Stroman reach out to all the parties (NCAAP, CHCCS, and Parents involved) to see if the HRC could assist with this conflict. All were in favor of this motion XI. Adjourn A. The meeting was adjourned at 7:26pm. B. NEXT MEETING: April 8, 2019 6:00pm at Animal Services in Chapel Hill. 3