Minutes_Human Rights Commission 2 9 15 CITY OF DUBUQUE
HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION
MEETING MINUTES OF
February 9, 2015
Commissioner Allen called the meeting of the Dubuque Human Rights Commission to order at
4:35 p.m. on Monday, February 9, 2015, at the City Hall Annex, 1300 Main Street, Conference Room
II, Dubuque, Iowa.
Roll Call:
Present: Anthony Allen, Chair Ashley Melchert
Miquel Jackson Nikkole Nutter
Fred Davis Shirley Vaughn
Jeff Lenhart
Tom LoGuidice
Absent: Susan Stone
Staff: Kelly Larson Carol Spinoso
Manisha Paudel
Oath of Office
The Chair administered the Oath of Office to Commissioner Davis.
Approval of December 8, 2014 Minutes:
Commissioner LoGuidice moved to approve the Human Rights Commission meeting minutes of
January 12, 2015. Commissioner Melchert seconded. All in favor of approving the meeting minutes
as submitted.
Reports:
Caseload Report
The January 2015 Caseload Report was received and filed.
Chairperson's Report
Currently there are 25 people from the NAACP executive board and committee chairs who
are working on NAACP initiatives. Planning is underway for a Bowl-A-Thon, Juneteenth, a
talent show, and they are looking for speakers for the Freedom Fund Banquet.
The Community Police Relations Committee (CPRC) will be holding their quarterly meeting
next month. Anthony is working with Judy Giesen to write a press release to provide
information on the changes to the By-Laws.
The Black Men's Coalition (BMC) Manhood Project will begin the end of the month and will
run for five weeks.
The first of the Inclusive Dubuque public dialogue sessions will begin tomorrow, February 10`h
from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. at the Library. The topic of the first session is economic wellbeing.
Director's Report:
Over the past month, Kelly has been planning for the Equity Assessment. Commissioners
were provided information on the various dialogue sessions that will be taking place and the
link to this month's survey. Kelly will continue to forward information to Commissioners as
she receives it. At the end of each month they will receive a summary containing the main
information gathered during that month's discussions as well as the survey results.
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The Community Engagement group has put together a toolkit and they are now working with
major city projects to start implementing. They will be working on the source of income piece
and also the analysis of impediments.
Notes from the January 28 and February 4`h public forums were distributed. They will need to
be approved at next month's meeting.
Manisha reported that a new local chapter of League of United Latin American Citizens
(LU LAC) has been established. The local chapter will focus on education.
Manisha will be traveling to Indonesia as part of the International City/County Management
Association (ICMA) Program that is funded by the Department of State. The focus will be on
the different work she does related to human relations and community engagement.
Old Business:
Source of Income —Alvin Nash
Alvin Nash, Housing & Economic Development Director, was present to provide
information related to the newly created Source of Income Committee and the various
recommended subcommittees. They are planning two City Council work sessions and
various community input sessions.
Goal Setting Follow-up
Notes from the February 7`h goal setting were distributed. Three main goals were identified:
1) Research, illuminate and eliminate disparities (and increase cultural competencies)
in education, criminal justice, and housing.
Commissioners Jackson, Melchert, Stone, LoGuidice, and Allen will work on this goal.
2) To provide input to City Council goals and priorities and support the Human Rights
Commission goals and priorities.
The full commission will be active on this goal, with Commissioner Allen serving as
Chair.
3) Continue to improve communication within and among community groups in order
to improve human rights initiatives.
Commissioners Davis, Nutter, Vaughn, Lenhart, and Allen are interested in working on
this initiative.
Carol will put goals into a chart format. Goals will be adopted at next month's meeting.
Determine Liaisons to Groups/Organizations
LU LAC, Out and Proud, Circles initiative, DCSD Board, Cultural Voices, DACU, Neighbor to
Neighbor, and 4 the People were added to the list with liaisons being identified. Other groups
may be identified as subcommittees begin their work. The organization list will be updated
and distributed.
Update to Racial Disparities Roundtable Discussion and Public Forum
Anthony received the recording of the January 28`h roundtable discussion at Clarke and will
try to get it distributed to commissioners by the end of the week. There wasn't much
community dialogue during the January 28`h session due to panelists taking a majority of the
time for introductions, but much of the commentary at both sessions was related to Police and
education.
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New Business:
Commissioner LoGuidice reported that the Human Rights display is currently at the Roshek
Building, and that he is seeking suggestions for other locations to display. The Forum was
suggested. Tom will bring the display to the office to be updated prior to taking it to The
Forum.
Adjournment:
Motion to adjourn by Commissioner Davis, second by Commissioner Vaughn. All in favor. The
meeting of the Human Rights Commission adjourned at 6:25 p.m.
The next regular meeting is scheduled for Monday, March 9, 2015 at 4:30 p.m.
Minutes approved as submitted:
Minutes approved as corrected:
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