Minutes_Human Rights Commission 12 9 13CITY OF DUBUQUE
HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION
MEETING MINUTES OF
December 9, 2013
Commissioner Allen called the meeting of the Dubuque Human Rights Commission to order at
4:30 p.m. on Monday, December 9, 2013, at the City Hall Annex, 1300 Main Street, Conference
Room H, Dubuque, Iowa.
Roll Call:
Present: Anthony Allen, Chair Jeff Lenhart
Andrea Beacham Tom LoGuidice
Andrea Helgager RRS Stewart
Howard Lee
Absent: Miguel Jackson
Staff:
Carol Spinoso Kelly Larson
Manisha Paudel
Approval of Minutes:
Commissioner Beacham moved to approve the meeting minutes of November 18, 2013.
Commissioner Lenhart seconded. All in favor.
Reports:
Caseload Report
i he November Caseload report will be provided at the January 13th meeting.
Chairperson's Report
Commissioner Allen stated that he was pleased with the outcome at goal setting. He will be
meeting with the Chief of Police and the City Manager to discuss moving forward with the new
name and process changes for the Dubuque Community & Police Review Committee
(DCPR), the former DCAP. He is also meeting with the Black Men Coalition related to the All
Africa event on December 12th at the MFC, where they will welcome the Nigerian
Ambassador Geoffrey Teneilabe. The Safe Community Advisory Committee made a request
to the City Council to not re- empanel the committee for 2014 as the majority of the Safe
Community Task Force recommendations have been or are being implemented.
Director's Report:
Staff has asked Jessica Rose from the Community Foundation to attend the January meeting
to provide some background on the Inclusive Dubuque initiative. Kelly sits on the Governance
Committee on the MFC Board. They have had many changes on the board, including hiring a
new director, over the last few months so they are working to get a stronger structure working
with the board. As part of that they are working on branching out to do more programing and
trying to draw community members in to serve on the various committees.
MLK breakfast registration information is available and people can register on line through the
Community Foundation. The event will be held on January 20th at 7:00 a.m. at the Grand
River Center.
Andre is presenting ICC training to Senior High School administrators and staff.
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New Business:
Meeting with Police Chief and City Manager
In follow -up to last month's discussions regarding the ACLU report, Chief Dalsing was invited to
address the local racial arrest disparities and the City Manager and Housing and Community
Development Director were invited to provide an update on the HUD findings regarding disparities.
The City Manager shared the following documents with the Commission: 1) 2013 City Council goals
and priorities that addresses Dubuque being a more inclusive community with a goal of addressing
racial profiling; 2) list of the sixty Safe Community Task Force recommendations; 3) flyer on the Bee
Branch Watershed Flood Mitigation Project which will help some of the most economically challenged
neighborhoods in the City and will make a significant impact on the quality of peoples' life; 4)
comparative statistics showing participation in various City programs in 2009 and 2013; and 5) arrest
records. He stated that they will be purchasing new software to better track the arrest statistics.
Chief Dalsing referenced the sixty SCTF recommendations stating that the overall theme was looking
to better the community and opportunities for people, and that the recommendations have been
addressed to some degree. Approximately 10 — 15% of the sixty recommendations were true police
issues that needed to be addressed. Moreover, the task force recognized that it was more than just
a crime issue, that progress would require a community -wide effort. He mentioned that he had
reviewed the ACLU study and that he is working on a project with another group where they are
looking at disparities in arrest records and traffic stops for a five year trend which wouldn't be
completed until after 2013. Once the report is completed he will share it with commissioners. He will
provide a report on Dubuque arrests using the entire drug spectrum breaking it down by race. Issues
he is dealing with are having a young department with 50% of his officers having less than ten years
of experience. There is the false information that circulates through social media that is harmful, and
the recruitment efforts to attract minority officers has been challenging for a variety of reasons. Some
progress has been made in revising the Civil Service process so that people are not omitted solely
based on a written test score.
Old Business:
Review and Discuss Goals
Due to the length of the meeting, the Old Business items will be tabled until the January 13th
meeting. Commissioner Stewart requested to review the ordinance sections under Rule of
the Month. Commission consensus at their goal setting session was to discontinue the
ordinance review.
Commissioners will meet at 3:15 on Wednesday, December 11, 2013 to review and finalize
the goals established at their December 7th session.
Adjournment:
Motion to adjourn by Commissioner Beacham, second by Commissioner Lee. All in favor. The
meeting of the Human Rights Commission adjourned at 5:50 p.m.
The next regular meeting is scheduled for Mond , 7./13i 2014.
Minutes approved as submitted:
Minutes approved as corrected:
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