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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHRC Minutes 030920 t 101. HUMAN RELATIONS COMMISSION Cultivating Community Through Social Justice MINUTES March 09, 2020 6:00 pm —7:30 pm Main Library Meeting Room 137 W. Margaret Lane, Hillsborough, NC MEMBERS PRESENT STAFF Samantha Beecham Tara May, Civil Rights Specialist Dion Graham Melvyn Blackwell, Intake Specialist Ana Garcia-Turner Annette Moore, Director Allison Mahaley Tomeka Ward-Satterfield Brenda Amezquita-Castro Frances Castillo James Spivey Stephanie Harrell MEMBERS ABSENT G U ESTS Deborah Stroman I. Call to Order A. Ms. Allison Mahaley, Vice-Chair, called the meeting to order at 6:05pm. A quorum was present at 6:05pm. II. Minutes Approval — February 10, 2020 A. HRC members reviewed the minutes from the previous HRC meeting. Ms. Jamie Paulen made a motion to approve the minutes with suggested edits. Ms. Ana Garcia-Turner seconded the motion. All were in favor to approve the minutes. III. HRC Chair's Report A. Ms. Frances Castillo had nothing to report at the time. IV. County Updates A. Ms. Moore reported that Ms. Brenda Amezquita-Castro has resigned from the HRC. She noted that Ms. Amezquita-Castro's work schedule has changed and conflicts with HRC 1 scheduling. Ms. Moore said, between March and April 2020 HR&R staff will send HRC members the HRC applications that are on file. She explained how the HRC may discuss applicants at the next meeting. B. She announced three proclamations are to be presented tomorrow at the Board of County Commissioner's (BOCC) meeting. She explained the proclamations were in honor of Women's History Month, to recognize the Centennial Anniversary of the 19tn Amendment, and the Denouncement of Xenophobia in relation to COVID 19. She explained how individuals of a different national origin or race and mainly of Asiandescent have been mistreated and discriminated against due to peoples' reaction to the virus. V. 2020-2021 Outside Agency Funding Application Evaluation A. Ms. Mahaley explained the application process of agencies. Ms. Moore explained the evaluation process and the responsibilities of the HRC to score them either together or as a subcommittee. HRC members discussed how they felt about the options of scoring the applications. HRC members decided to score the applications individually and turn their scores in to HR&R staff to facilitate a grand tally. Ms. Tara May noted the deadline to submit the scores were March 27, 2020. Ms. May asked HRC members to submit their scores to her by March 20, 2020. VI. HRC Events & Committee Reports A. Pauli Murray Awards 1. HRC members discussed and debriefed on the recent event. HRC members thought the event was well attended and all of the entertainment (dancers and choir) for the program were good. Ms. Garcia-Turner noted that the speaker went over the allotted time and may have spoken too long, and other members agreed. 2. Ms. Paulen expressed some concerns about the criteria for choosing awardees. She explained how she feels the awardee should be given someone who has a reputation of activism, and how the adult awardee for 2020 had a reputation that may align more with amazing community service. She expressed concerns about the consistency of the criteria for choosing a youth awardee winner. She noted that the awardee was a child of someone running for public office, whom nominated the awardee. She commented on how that nomination may conflict with the HRC's concerns on an awardee not being a candidate running or in public office, which was applied to the adult awardee category during evaluating nominations. She expressed her interest to be on the subcommittee next year. Mr. James Spivey verbalized how he felt the work and reputation of this year's adult awardee aligns with that of an activist. He noted that the awardee has a reputation of breaking down barriers for African American women and the African American community. 3. Ms. Mahaley inquired if anyone would like to join the Pauli Murray sub- committee at this time. Ms. May suggested that the HRC wait for new members to join the HRC to form a sub-committee. Ms. Mahaley expressed an urgency for the HRC to start planning for next year's awards ceremony, and members agreed. Ms. Paulen volunteered to be on the sub-committee. Mr. Spivey 2 advised the future sub-committee to be conscious of a candidate's impact in relation to culture and environment when they select candidates to be award recipients. He explained how an individual's accomplishment can be viewed important to a person of color, but viewed as insignificant by someone that is not a person of color. 4. Ms. Mahaley suggested the creation of the subcommittee and how they will establish criteria for next year, should be on the agenda for the next meeting. B. Community Read 1. Mr. Spivey reported that the sub-committee needs to meet, and that he will send out a poll for best dates to meet next. He noted how the committee needed to develop a publicity plan. He explained how the committee is in an agreement on the book, but he would prefer to wait and announce the title when all members are present. He predicted, that by next HRC meeting the committee will have a detailed report for the larger group. VI I. Other Business/Announcements/Upcoming Events A. Ms. Mahaley discussed HRC partnerships. She noted Dr. Deborah Stroman, former HRC Chair, was a liaison with many partners. Ms. Moore advised the HRC to collectively decide on rules and guidelines for engaging in partnerships and sponsorships. The HRC discussed the levels of engagement the commission currently has with partners, such as Conversations on Equity and The Orange County Community Remembrance Coalition (OCCRC). B. HRC members requested for Dr. Stroman to discuss the Campaign for Racial Equity and the HRC's past involvement with them. Dr. Stroman advised that after Ms. Rebecca High resigned from the HRC, Mr. Spivey then took the role as liaison with this partner. Mr. Spivey reported that he has been awaiting correspondence from his contact person with the Campaign for Racial Equity for a while, Ms. Wanda. He noted that he would follow up with Ms. Wanda. C. Ms. Mahaley requested that the HRC follow up on reaching out to the Campaign for Racial Equity and the OCCRC in relation to collaborating or engagement at the next HRC meeting. D. Ms. Moore made an announcement about the diversity survey given to members of advisory boards and committees. She announced that she has been receiving good feedback and so far, 135 surveys have been collected. She mentioned one compliment she received from, Matt Hughes, and how he may use it for the town of Hillsborough. E. Ms. Moore said she would send out reminders to boards and committee members to complete the survey. Ms. Moore reminded HRC members to complete the survey as members of an advisory board. F. Ms. Mahaley will get with Ms. Moore and Ms. Castillo about creating a draft of regulations and expectations when working with community partners or sponsoring. G. Ms. Mahaley inquired about a HR&R Women's History Month event this year. She noted that a community collaborative was planning to host an event to honor Women planned for March 2020. Ms. Moore advised that due to the current COVID-19 virus, 3 that HR&R staff has postponed plans for any events at this time due to the unclear impact of the virus. H. Ms. Mahaley discussed next meeting dates and possibilities to change the meeting date. She noted that HR&R staff will be out of town and this will be on the date of the next scheduled meeting. Ms. Paulen explained how changing the date would not be good for her schedule and she is concerned that this would negatively affect her attendance. Ms. Garcia-Turner motioned to have the next meeting on April 6, 2020 instead of April 13tn and not having an absent count against a HRC member's attendance, for this meeting. Mr. Spivey seconded the motion and all were in favor. I. Ms. Moore invited HRC members to come to the Trauma Informed Care training on March 13, 2020 at Orange County Department of Social Services. J. Ms. Garcia Turner invited HRC members to COVID19 impact presentation at the Friday Center on March 19, 2020. VIII. Adjourn A. NEXT MEETING: Monday, April 6, 2020 at Animal Services Conference Room, located at 1601 Eubanks Rd., Chapel Hill 4