Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout09.26.23 - Minutes W.- HUMAN RELATIONS COMMISSION Cultivaling Community Through Social Justice MINUTES Tuesday, September 26, 2023 6:00 pm—7:30 pm Virtual Meeting via Microsoft Teams https://orangecountync.gov/HRCMeeting MEMBERS PRESENT STAFF Anjail Taylor(AT) Melvyn Blackwell (MB), Civil Rights Specialist Nathalie Volkheimer(NV) Courtney McLaughlin (CM), Community Engagement& Outreach Coordinator Josh Ravitch (JR) Shameka Fairbanks (SF), Chief Equity& Human Rights Officer Ruby Garcia (RG) Rachel Collins (RC), Intake Specialist Jemm Merritt—Feder(JM) Michael Fath (MF) Lynn McGee (LG) Guest Amy Eckberg(AE), Orange County Sustainability Coordinator Bonnie Hammersley(BH), Orange County Manager Members Absent Jenn Sykes (JS) I. Call to Order I LM, Chair A. Attendees of the meeting introduced themselves II. Minutes Approval A. Meeting Minutes: April 25, 2023 B. Meeting Minutes: May 23, 2023 C. Meeting Minutes: August 22, 2023 MOVED LM to approve minutes for April, May, and August 2023 SECONDED JM APPROVED with none opposed III. Community Climate Action Grant Program Application Scoring—AE A. Ms. Eckberg went through the Community Climate Action Plan Grant concept and indicated the importance of the section the HRC will score. An example application was scored as a demonstration. ACTION HRC members to score applications and send to RC to collate and return to Ms. Eckberg IV. Executive Committee Report- LM A. Fair Housing Training this Saturday from 9am to 5pm. B. Subcommittees: How can we reach out into the community for various groups/communities (i.e.: LGBTQ, African-American, Asian/Pacific Islander, LatinX) LM Would like to hear thoughts of others regarding this initiative. C. Having a shared working calendar where HRC important dates can be recorded would be ideal. Feedback welcome on how to manage that (Google)? V. County Updates- SF A. The County is moving forward with the strategic plan. The mission, vision, and objectives for the county have been developed. Challenges and opportunities were shared, and one of the top five opportunities was equity and inclusion. B. Dates for HRC events should be decided as soon as possible to allow for planning. C. The government shutdown which is looming may delay some services. Orange County is attempting to mitigate any effects if they can. D. Youth programming is going to start being introduced in Orange County. CM will be seeking two commissioners to assist. VI. HRC Commissioner Applications—LM A. HRC members agreed for LM to invite applicants to an in-person meeting to meet commissioners and answer questions. VI I. HRC Events and Committee Reports A. Community Read - RG i. Considering November (2nd, 8th, or 14th) for the event date. Planning for the event to be hybrid (online and in person). ACTION RG to let MB know when the date is confirmed. B. Communications - NV i. See attachment one 1. Communications Summary 2. 2023 HRC/DEI state-wide meeting debrief C. Pauli Murray Awards - MF D. Other Subcommittees Vill. Other Business/Announcement/Upcoming Events Other Business A. County Manager and HRC Interviews i. The County Manager, (BH), will be organizing meetings with each Commissioner to ask them a series of questions and to get feedback from the Commissioners about their experiences on the HRC, and ideas about how to best move forward together. Her assistant, Donna, will set up all Microsoft Teams meetings with HRC members in the near future. ii. On October 3rd, the County will host a Volunteer/Advisory Board Reception to honor volunteers, including HRC members. IX. Adjourn ACTION: MB will secure a location for the October meeting. NEXT MEETING: October 24, 2023, location TBD Attachment 1 Communications Summary-Nathalie Volkheimer Mebane GARE Vote Attendance Summary Nathalie Volkheimer attended the City of Mebane meeting in order to speak in favor of Mebane subscribing to GARE. Learned: - a large part of the opposition to GARE was stoked by divisive newspaper editorials and church groups - GARE and its role, as well as the role of Human Relations Commissions, is not understood and is used at times to promote division in the community - The opposition to GARE seemed to have strong roots in church contexts, whereas the Human Relations/Equity approach was more secular - There were very few people represented to elucidate the reality of what GARE offers, to support the Mebane HR committee or to propose support for GARE or equity in Mebane. - I was the only non-Mebane resident to speak in favor of GARE subscriptions - I was contacted by the new Chief of Police Mitch McKinney (Mebane) in support of our presence at the event - I reached out to Rev Bluford, the Chair of the Megan equity Committee to see if they would welcome more support, no response received yet Dining and Dialogue: -"Meet your Muslim Neighbor" was one theme to attempt to break down barriers between people and demystify stereotypes - "Eye Opening Exercise" lunch blindfolded or navigate the city to develop empathy for the vision impaired included vision impaired people for discussion (sponsored by Vision Resource Center, Fred Baker & Monica Turner) Fayetteville Youth Council: - 10 students form each school (not the top 20 percent academically, looking for that middle tier of students) - Grades 10, 11 and 12, with the same kids following through the three years - Support from the School Board and the City - They learn about Government so they can represent themselves and have their own voice at County Council Meetings Denim Day: - Campaign usually on a Wednesday in April during Sexual Assault Awareness Month. - - - Shifts from victim blaming. - Longest running international educational campaign in history - Asks everyone to wear denim on a specific day Public Safety Linkages: - What are the police and public safety organizations in our County doing? - What are they seeing? Attending their meetings and asking them to attend ours will be enlightening as where some of the challenges are.