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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHRC Minutes 061019 MINUTES June 10, 2019 6:00 pm – 7:30 pm Animal Services 1601 Eubanks Rd., Chapel Hill, NC MEMBERS PRESENT STAFF Ana Garcia-Turner Tara May, Civil Rights Specialist Allison Mahaley Melvyn Blackwell, Intake Specialist Rebecca High Annette Moore, Director Joy Preslar Stephanie Harrell MEMBERS ABSENT Matt Case (excused) Marc Xavier (unexcused) Debby Stroman (excused) Nora Spencer (excused) GUESTS Seamus O’Neil I. Call to Order A. The meeting was called to order at 6:30pm by Ms. Stephanie Harrell. A quorum was present. II. Introductions A. Human Relations Commission (HRC) members, Human Rights & Relations (HR&R) staff, shared “what’s new and what’s good”. III. Public Comment A. Ms. Harrell introduced Mr. Seamus O’Neill and his interest to provide the HRC with a public comment. Mr. Seamus thanked the HRC for the opportunity to speak. Mr. 1 Seamus noted that he left a written version of his comment with Ms. Tara May. Mr. O’Neill comments and concerns were pertaining to the selection processes that lead to the decision to choose Ms. Linda Sarsour as a speaker at the Women’s History Month event. Mr. O’Neill voiced concerns of the divisiveness surrounding the event. He voiced how inviting Ms. Sarsour to speak went against the spirit of the HRC. IV. Minutes Approval – May 13, 2019 A. HRC members reviewed the minutes from the previous HRC meeting. Ms. Harrell made a motion to approve the May minutes. Mrs. Ana Garcia-Turner seconded the motion. All were in favor to approve the minutes. V. County Updates A. Ms. Annette Moore led a discussion to debrief on the recent Fair Housing training. HRC members were pleased with the training and gained more insight. Ms. Moore invited HRC members to enroll in Fair Housing trainings with HRC members across the country. Ms. Moore noted that HR&R staff will arrange training later in the year for new HRC members. She invited members to come to her and discuss other training that members may be interested in. B. Ms. Moore noted that HR&R are promoting departmental Fair Housing ads in several areas of the county. Mr. Melvyn Blackwell explained the one month Fair Housing billboard and departmental ad on interstate 85. Mr. Blackwell elaborated how there will be similar bus posters for Orange County Public transportations buses as well as Chapel Hill Transit buses. VI. Board Structure and Appointments A. Ms. Moore explained how the HRC members will be able to make recommendations for HRC member appointments when the Board of County Commissioners meets again, in the fall of 2019. Ms. Moore noted that HR&R staff will send HRC applications received via email for HRC members to review. Ms. Moore has asked members not to forward the applications, and only to review them to make a recommendation. B. Ms. Moore and Ms. Allison Mahaley clarified HRC’s request to minimize the number of members from 18 to 12 members in 2018. Ms. Moore noted that Ms. Rebecca High will be no longer be a HRC member (moving) nor will Ms. Joy Preslar (termed out), and that there will be 7 members remaining on the HRC. There may be about 5 new members joining the HRC soon. Ms. Moore noted that this would be the reason to host another fair housing training in the fall of 2019. VII. Election of the Secretary A. Ms. Harrell and Ms. Ana-Garcia began a discussion on the role and duties of HRC’s secretary role. Ms. May explained one of the main roles of the secretary would be support to the chair and vice-chair, and assume lead in their absence. B. Ms. Mahaley nominated herself to be the HRC secretary. Ms. Ana Garcia-Turner voiced a second to this nomination. All present were in favor of Ms. Mahaley becoming HRC secretary. 2 VIII. Updates A. Ms. Harrell encouraged members to sign up for blog writing. She noted that the signup sheet and the schedule of when blogs are published are in Google Docs. Blogs are typically published monthly on the third Tuesday. She requested anyone that is having trouble pulling up the sign-up sheet let her know. She encouraged a HRC member to volunteer to author the next blog (June). Ms. Preslar volunteered and will author the June blog. IX. HRC Events & Committee Reports A. Pauli Murray 1. Ms. Ana Garcia provided a planning committee update. She explained that the group discussed getting the word out and promoting the student contest mid-fall 2019. She referenced advice she received from a principal at Carrboro Elementary School on how to promote the youth contest to schools. She explained the significance of getting the word out to the principals of all of the county’s schools. She has started a list of organizations and youth groups to promote the youth contest to. B. Forum 1. Ms. Mahaley provided a planning committee update. She discussed thoughts of moving away from the idea of hosting a Constitution Day event. She explained that the phrase may mean a lot of different things to different people, and may ostracize groups. She pointed out how the planning and timing of the event wasn’t formidable. She suggested an idea of having a Pride event for 2020. She acknowledged that this type of event may warrant having partners and a lot of lead time for planning. 2. Ms. Garcia Turner proposed that the HRC strengthen their presence at Festifall 2019 and share materials of information for upcoming HRC events there. For the September 2019 HRC meeting, she suggested that the HRC make a decision on what the theme of the 2020 event will be. HRC members present were in agreement with Ms. Garcia Turner’s suggestions. 3. Ms. Moore warned the members if they facilitate a Pride event, that it may become an expectation to host this type of event annually. X. Other Business/Announcements/Upcoming events A. Ms. Moore suggested for HRC members to consider having a community conversation surrounding the Linda Sarsour event. She highlighted that it may be conducive to have conversations about the topics she spoke about, thoughts, and feelings that were generated from residents. B. Ms. Moore encouraged HRC members to continue to have conversations and communicate with one another, even though there will be no meeting July 2019. C. HR&R staff will arrange to celebrate Ms. Preslar’s tenure of service with the HRC. XI. Adjourn A. The meeting was adjourned at 7:15pm. B. NEXT MEETING: August 12, 2019 6:00pm at the Link Building in Hillsborough. 3