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HomeMy WebLinkAbout01-15-2013 Human Rights Commission��IOWA clry HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION 49 Years of Advancing Equality 1963-2012 AGENDA CITY OF IOWA CITY HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION HELLING CONFERENCE ROOM, CITY HALL January 15, 2013 6:00 P.M. 1. Call Meeting to Order/ Roll Call 2. Approval of Minutes from the following meeting: December 18, 2012 3. Public Comment of Items Not on the Agenda 4. New Business a. Recognition of Incoming Commissioners b. Fair Housing Training (April 23, 2013) c. Request for Sponsorship Choice Event 2013 (Packet Item 4-c) d. Elect Chair for 2013 e. Black History Proclamation 5. Old Business: a. Youth Awards (May 15, 2013) 6. Updates/Reports: a. MLK, Jr, Proclamation b. Municipal Identification c. Immigrant Subcommittee d. Ad Hoc Diversity Committee e. Building Communities f. University of Iowa Center for Human Rights g. Commission h. Staff 7. Set Next Regular Meeting for February 19, 2013 at 6 p.m. 8. Adjourn The Iowa City Human Rights Commission meetings follow the Iowa City Community School District closings for inclement weather except for early dismissals for heat. Page 1 of 13 Minutes PRELIMINARY Human Rights Commission December 18, 2012 — 6 P.M. Helling Conference Room Members Present: Harry Olmstead, Orville Townsend Sr., Connie Goeb, Kim Hanrahan, Diane Finnerty, Shams Ghoneim, Jessie Harper, Dan Tallon. Members Excused: Howard Cowen. Staff Present: Stefanie Bowers This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Human Rights Commission meeting of December 18, 2012. Recommendations to Council: Yes. 1) The Human Rights Commission would support the City in pursuing a municipal issued identification card, implemented in a manner to protect the safety of undocumented persons. 2) For the City Council to adopt the recommendations for signage at City facilities (see attachment). In considering the recommendations for signage the Commission would respectively request the Council to consider each individual recommendation along with the feasibility of pursuing signage in other languages prominently spoken in the Iowa City community. Call to Order: Chair Olmstead called the meeting to order at 18:00. Consideration of the Minutes of the November 20, 2012 Meetine: Goeb pointed out a needed correction, page 6, the town of Richmond, California and not Enrichment as stated. Townsend moved to approve the corrected minutes, seconded by Tallon. Motion passed. 8-0. New Business: Recognition of Outgoing Commissioners Cowen and Goeb HO: Connie Goeb has been with us for three years and has had quite a bit of involvement. We do appreciate it, and we are sorry to see you go. CG: I really enjoyed it and learned a lot. I enjoyed all the Commissioners that have come through and I'll miss it. By far my favorite things were the awards breakfast and even more so the youth awards. I think I will be one of the public at the youth awards in the coming years because I enjoyed those very much, and probably the breakfast as well. I'll be thinking of you guys on the third Tuesday of the month. HO: We also have one for Howard as well. I should probably read it. It says certificate of appreciation is presented to for outstanding dedication and commitment to human rights and the Iowa City community. January 1, 2010 to January 1, 2013 and signed by the mayor. Moving on to the MLK Jr. Proclamation. MILK, Jr. Proclamation SB: Each year the Commission usually submits a proclamation for Martin Luther King Jr. Day, which is on the 21' of January. The council meetings however are the 8ih of January and the 22"" of January. So if the Commission chooses to submit a proclamation somebody would need to be available on either the 81h or the 22nd depending on what submittal date you prefer, to accept it on behalf of the Commission. HO: Do we have a volunteer? DT: What day of the week is the 8's9 SB: It's a Tuesday, they both are Tuesdays. The 8" would be prior to the 22"d and would be the day after so Page 2 of 13 SG: The proclamation is already on record? SB: It would have to be submitted, but it's substantially similar from last year. I think 1 have a copy, but if not what happens is you can still submit it and the mayor will sign it, but it's not formally read at a council meeting if somebody is not there to accept it. SG: Usually you don't change it right? SB: Last year I think this one was submitted and it was a newer version, so it's only been presented once. I think it's different from the one of 2011. HO: It's real simple, just stand there and the mayor will hand it to you and you can say a few words if you want. SG: Okay so you don't have to read it. SB: No the mayor reads the proclamation yes and signs it. HO: 1 think Jesse would like to do it. JH: I would love to. SB: Can we shoot for the 8tb so that it is read prior to the holiday versus after the fact? Okay. Universal Identification HO: It's in your packet as item 4-c. SB: It actually starts right after agenda items, and there are some materials that Diane F. submitted and then some correspondence that the Ad Hoc Diversity Committee received, which includes an article and then minutes from the Ad Hoc Diversity Committee meeting where they had a member of the public who spoke about universal identification. KH: Can I just say that the Sanctuary City Committee is also working on the universal ID cards. The scope is much broader than what 1 think the sub -committee on immigration would be capable of doing because that would include county services also, and potentially working with banks to have them be able to use to open account services at banks. So it's kind of spreading to a degree that I'm not quite sure we can go onboard with that at this point, unless we decide when we come to discuss the sub -committee that we could at some point could we potentially just support what the Sanctuary City Committee is doing? What are some of our options? SB: Could you repeat that? KH: Could we support what the Sanctuary City Committee is doing or should we do something separate? SB: Yes that's an option. You could support, the making a recommendation to the city council? Yes you could support that. It's possible, 1 don't know if the Ad Hoc Diversity Committee is going to make a recommendation on the topic. I don't believe their recommendations are due until March of 2013. So that's an option too to see if they recommend it. If they do, if you want to add to it or take away from it. If they don't recommend it you could recommend it at that time too. It's really up to the Commission. I don't really think there are any restrictions. DF: I think where our influence comes is that it's a municipal ID card. So if they're going to the county or whomever, but what I would like is if people have enough information to make a recommendation. That we would support the city in pursuing a municipal ID card that may be more expansive than based on what the Sanctuary City Committee works out. For me this material or understanding is the basis that it's a government issued ID card that assists with opening up accounts at banks. So then working with the banks so they actually accept it, but it's the fact that its government issued and there's a photo ID on it and identifying information just gives people something to say they are who they say they are. I think some of the other places what it's used for to actually access library services. I'm not sure if that's what is needed from the city because 1 don't think you need like a driver's license to _ library. JH: Another thing that was identified from that an ID card was violence also because what was happening was some of the families since they knew that they didn't have bank accounts and stuff, they were being taken advantage of So I don't think that will bean issue here, but that was some of the greater issues of why they came up with the ID card. Page 3 of 13 OT: One of the things that I would like to see is we get to the point where we're going to activate the process of having a card, we need to look at the economic side. If there is an expense for people to get the card and if at all possible we can look at possible resources that will be available to help individuals who may not be able to afford the card. DF: Did somebody talk last week; is there an outside vendor who has handled this for other cities? Did you mention that Kim? KH: I did, it was an outside vendor and I don't recall if it was in New Haven, CT or if it was in California. There was an outside vendor and I'm not clear what the costs were and how that arrangement was set up. SG: Would this card then be renewable or is it just _ every so often? SB: I thought in the article they might have mentioned it. HO: Diane it sounded like you were making a motion. Do you want to make a motion? DF: Yes. CG: Are people able right now, I know people that don't have driver's licenses can get government issued IDs at the vehicle place? OT: My mother has one. HO: I have one. CG: Did she need to present anything in particular to prove? OT: Yes you need to have a birth certificate and social security number. CG: Okay that's right, even for the ID cards that are not driver's license cards okay. KH: You have to have two items that support from two different, separate columns of things that you could and often times our folks don't have those. SG: That would be costly and that's where... CG: Right because I was thinking why notjust charge the same a month as you would for a driver's licenses and people would have that option. OT: I think we need to be careful what criteria we use on individuals to even get a card because we're need to see a person that has a social security or something like that and we're right back to step one because a lot of people won't have it. CG: Isn't the idea that it would be like opening a utility or an account. What is it that you need to provide for a utility bill or something like that, to show what your address. I mean that's the kind of thing we're talking about here right? Where it would just be proof of residency and that would be the only proof you'd have is that you are paying bills in Iowa City or Johnson County. DF: 1 think if we could borrow off of other communities that have done it so they use the same categories of identification that's need _ numbers. So what the US Department of Treasury does for the individual tax payer identification number account. SB: I have the list if anyone wants to know what is on it. DF: I personally don't feel a need for us to kind of debate what ID should be used or the specifics even about the financing at this point. I love what you're saying about however the financing gets worked out if there is a cost then maybe we can figure out how to fundraise to even get that cost more nominal fee. I would just like our endorsement of the concept of a municipal issued ID that we as the Human Rights Commission support the city and strongly and moving forward with that. That would be my proposal that the Iowa City Human Rights Commission supports the city developing a municipal city ID. HO: Do we have a second to that motion? Page 4 of 13 DT: I'll second it. HO: Discussion? OT: I would suggest that you know when it comes to the economic part of it; you know there are a lot of churches working with immigrant population. I think basically what we might want to do is to encourage them to spearhead that aspect of it because they've got access to the money. They've got members and preachers are basically can get you know churches can get resources from other. SG: A question I have. Would that be just for the immigrant community members or say other people? CG: For anybody. SB: Somebody had asked about the expiration date if that, and as Diane said I mean I don't think we necessarily for the Commission need to get that specific, but on page five of the article that was in the packet it does say that the card includes a residence, photo, name, address, date of birth, date of issue and expiration. So there must have been an expiration date issued on those. DF: And the cost is $10 for adults and $5 for kids SG: So I have another issue. Undocumented persons are always afraid of being identified by the _. So that's a governmental issued card. How would you address that fear that they may be identified that way? CG: Because they'd be, most of these people carrying it so if you had that _ undocumented. SG: Well you're already identified with issues. KH: The card itself wouldn't say whether you were documented or undocumented, and one of the benefits I've heard from the immigrant community is that often times when they're stopped by police officers and they don't have a form of ID, that's when they're taken down to the police station and potentially ICE could get involved. So this would be a way for them to identify themselves to a police officer or law enforcement official in a way that they don't have available to them right now. CG: But it wouldn't prevent them from being taken in. KH: If they broke the law, no. CG: Or they're taken in just because they don't have IDs. KH: Like for a minor traffic stop potentially, that's what I've been told. OT: One of the bones I've had with the process all along is I see a lot of people getting involved doing things, but the community itself I feel should be doing more. I feel that if we can get the system in place to make the card available there are individuals in the community that are very comfortable with the city, that know what's going on. Maybe they might want to take some responsibility of organizing and encouraging people to go or even getting a group of people and bringing them down because I think we've got a lot of people that have been in Iowa City for years, and they really don't understand the city or have a comprehension of the city, and I think they're being cheated. DT: I think one of the ways you could address your concern by only people who are undocumented having the card would be to encourage students to get it because students it would be cool to have a, it would connect them to Iowa City. A lot of them don't have local ID's anyway and that might help them access voting services or feel like more of a resident. I think there might be a lot of opportunity to expand who carries it, so it wouldn'tjust be undocumented. SG: My brain goes to the time when before the election when our wonderful Secretary of State wanted to, in my opinion anyway, and how you can target and identify who can vote and who cannot. I'm just very aware that once you get your name in a system electronically you know you can get identified whether you want it or not. OT: I think that's another reason that the community needs to work to strengthen itself because you can tell me, 1 can go to the poll and vote and you can tell me I can't vote. If I'm frightened and let you mn me away I won't vote, but if 1 stand my ground you can't stop me from voting. Page 5 of 13 SG: No I was thinking of the other way around though, that if these names are undocumented or in a database, they can be identified by the government. KH: I'm not sure that they would collect that information at the time that they issue the card, whether they're documented or undocumented. It really is to provide access to services and remove barriers for everyone. So if it could be distributed more widely that would create OT: That's a good question. I think that needs to be clarified exactly the information being given and how is it going to be handled. HO: Would this be for adults 18 and over or? DF: The other ones have kids and adults. DT: I like the adult version of this card that it talks about in the article. It's a loadable debit card as well that can be used to pay for parking and bus services and things like that. It would probably not be practical maybe in this situation, but it would be pretty cool if you could just like swipe it on the bus. Well using it for the bus could also expand like if you could put it as your bus pass as well then it would expand the people that want to get it. KH: And eliminate the need to have paper versions of bus passes. HO: Okay we have a motion on the floor and it's been seconded. Any further discussion? DF: I would put an amendment on it that we support it and implement it in a way that provides the greatest amount of safety to undocumented people. HO: Do you accept that as a friendly amendment? Dan? OT: 1 have another question. Did anyone see in the material where it states negatives associated with this card that can work against the individual? I know there are a lot of pluses, but did I miss the negatives? KH: I did say that I went to a website and it had questions. It was an open site for questions and comments. 1 think the more you expand the reach of the card the more complexities come with it, and the more opportunities for some negative application or consequences. Prescription drugs they use them for here, and so I'm not sure just for using it for municipality services, I'm not sure that there is OT: My concern about that is negatives can go both ways, go against the person or the person can abuse the card. I think a way to keep a good handle on that is we might want to take a look at restricting how the card can be used because the the freedom of the card the more chance for problems. I know we definitely need to have something that will identify the person and tell everybody this person is okay. He or she can get a book out of the library you know, but I think all that other stuff you may be opening Pandora's Box. We need to consider that. KH: Can you clarify for us Stefanie we make the recommendation and then city staff is the one that really researches? SB: Based upon the council's direction of the recommendation. DF: The only other thing I'd add in terms of the community support I know would be the Immigrant Voices Project is in support of this initiative. I know the people pulling together to work with justice and the immigrant leadership are supportive of this. Sanctuary City is supportive of this, so I know that there are community members that are that support this initiative as well. SG: We need to educate them as well if there is any downside to it too because on the surface it's wonderful, but like everything else it's associated with an ID card. There must be some other eventually hidden issues that we ourselves don't know, and I don't know how you get that . HO: Stefanie would you reread the motion and amendment? SB: The Human Rights Commission would support the city in pursuing a municipal issued ID implemented in a way most friendly to undocumented persons. DF: I think friendly is a big word, but I was thinking safety issues which we also talked about accessible and so. Page 6 of 13 SG: I would put something regarding the safety issue even if it's just a word. DF: Implemented in a way that not increases but... KH: Are you wanting to protect? DF: To protect the safety of undocumented HO: Okay you're heard the motion is there any other further discussion? Hearing none I'll take role on this. Motion passed. 8-0 Old Business: Immigrant Subcommittee i. Spanish Signage Recommendations for City Services (packet item 5-a (i)) KH: The subcommittee met and edited the rough draft. Of course the best recommendation is to do all city signage in multiple languages. We had a discussion about why Spanish was spoken. Did you have a chance to find that? SB: I have the report. The source is the University of Iowa fall 2008 profile of international students and scholars. Also it states 2007 American Community Survey, so not the most recent scats being that it is 2012. KH: Because at that time the Spanish speaking population was the third largest in Johnson County. SB: This is a report that transit did, but the first table represents persons in Johnson County who reported speaking English less than very well. The number one language for that was Spanish. So this is self -reporting. The other table represents U of I international students and scholars by world region. So it's not definitive on any recent languages that may be more prominent in the community than others. SG: Isn't Spanish the most commonly second language in the United States period? I think so. KH: So that discussion was prompted by what could be the argument against and why did we choose Spanish instead of another language. But again as we've discussed here choosing Spanish for the first language is a good start and maybe we can consider something after that. HO: It's also the largest population expansion in this county. Okay do we need a motion for this Stefanie? Proceed or what? SB: Well because the subcommittee is making a recommendation to the entire Commission to accept these recommendations. So to answer your question yes. HO: Do I have a motion to approve the subcommittee's report? SG: I'll make a motion. CG: I'll second. HO: Any further discussion? DF: I have a couple of questions. One is I thought oh this is what they discovered on their walk, how exciting. I'm very proud that this would be our municipal building and the signage in Spanish, and then I realized oh no this is the recommendation of what should be done. But it was this really fun feeling of what a different place it would be if it was there. So that's really great. Did you intentionally have anything with the police department left out or? KH: Intentionally just because it was decided I thought at one point to separate that out as a separate issue Diversity Ad Hoc Committee. HO: Any other further discussion? OT: I agree that Spanish is a large population and it would make sense to have interpretation you know for that language. But I think we might want to be sensitive to other groups. We have a situation where we're dealing with economics. We can't afford tojust go out and spend money getting things interpreted, but I think we might want to word it so that Page 7 of 13 we're saying that this is the first step, and that future decisions will be made based upon the usage and population, the usage and amount of people attending public meetings or whatever. So that it's understood that we're just not saying we're going to do Spanish, but what we're saying is that this is the beginning and we will act as appropriate as we go along. DF: I almost thought that if signage is going to be reprinted it would be very cool to encourage even four languages. I mean think about what the major ones on the signage, but may get some of the more translated like the applications start with Spanish, Signage is going to cost some money to get some signs reprinted, so wouldn't that be cool at the same time to have it multiple languages. I'm also wondering is there any way that the language department at the University could assist in this about not so much maybe detailed translation, but some of the signage stuff shouldn't be a difficult translation. Get it and then vet it by some of the _ accessible. I would echo that the part of this that would make the recommendation to start more of a detailed translations of applications and documents, start with Spanish but we say this is the beginning. I wouldn't mind entertaining whether we recommend multiple languages on the signs. Like if that revenue sign is reprinted that will cost some money. Wouldn't it be cool if there were lots of different languages? SG: So what I hear everyone saying that it would be large signs like this one say the revenue, but also the documents themselves would be in Spanish. Is that correct? SB: That's what the recommendation is asking for. KH: Could we add something that says we will continue to reevaluate future needs for language translation services or something along those lines. HO: Except I think Diane saying that while they're making up the signs now that we should probably recommend three or four languages at this time. Diane do you know what those languages should be? DF: I don't know the communities well enough, but certainly like Mandarin Chinese would be one, Arabic could be one. So Spanish, Arabic, English, Chinese is my guess. HO: Could we put into the report the consideration of other languages should be pursued? CG: Because otherwise it will take forever to get, I mean now you got this and it's settled and then you go back and do another one. I think this is the route we were trying to reach and that was kind of the scope of your project. 1 would think it'd be better to stick with that than to expand it, other than maybe say aspirational we think it should be pursued. OT: I would suggest that we plant the seed and let the pollination process begin. KH: Is that clear Stefanie? SB: It is, was there a second on that? I have the first, you did the first. Was there a second? CG: I made the second. HO: You've read the recommendation with the addition of consideration for the language to be inserted into it. Any further discussion? Hearing none I'll take role. Motion passed. 8-0 SB: I think just for purposes of being clear, 1 believe this vote was for the Commission to accept it, so if you want to make a recommendation to the city council I would make that specific. HO: Separate motion okay. Do we have a motion to that effect? DT: I'll make the motion. KH: I'll second. HO: This is to make recommendation to the city council for the recommendations that have been brought forth by the subcommittee. Any discussion? OT: I guess at this point I would like to refer to Stefanie in terms of any concerns she may have about this or anything we need to look at before we proceed. Page 8 of 13 SB: Well one I'm not sure if the council will piecemeal these recommendations or wait until the Ad Hoc Diversity Committee has made all of their recommendations. I'm not sure as far as time, and that's just my personal opinion just so that if it's January it may not have been discussed by the city council. The thing that I've spoken with Kim about is just because this is the Human Rights Commission, and wanting to make sure that you're being inclusive and not exclusive so that other groups don't feel that they've being slighted. So that's just something to be mindful of, but the recommendation did discuss other languages to be pursued so. So that was just wanting everybody to feel welcomed at city hall and not you know kind of putting one community above another. SG: Regarding persons with disabilities do we have documents in braille? SB: Some documents I know we have. 1 mean it just depends, for every department there should be things in place for each division, department that would address any needs that somebody may have to access city services, OT: When it comes to disability I don't think we have to worry because the Americans with Disabilities Act you know has set requirements and standards that must be adhered to. KH: I had a question. Given that we've just considered the ID cards I just wanted to be removed from the recommendation. SB: I don't see any harm in keeping it there. What I would probably just suggest is adding that amendment and I'll make a note of that. KH: The other thought was to request that the city council review each recommendation individually rather than collectively so that they don't just throw it all out and instead consider each one. SB: So that would need to be part of the motion. HO: So do you want to do that as a friendly amendment? KH: Please. HO: Okay you accept that Dan and Shams? SG: Yes. SB: Can somebody restate the entire motion? SB: To recommend to the city council to adopt the recommendations. It was a very simple one, but I wasn't sure with the addition how you wanted that exactly worded. KH: Does it make this much more complex if I were to add that? SB: No, just how you want it worded that's all. KH: I would request that the city council consider each individual recommendation. OT: So are you saying that they would look at each recommendation individually? KH: Yes. HO: Does everybody understand the motion that's before us? Hearing no further discussion I'll take role. Motion passed. 8-0 HO: Is there another meeting planned for the subcommittee? KH: We haven't planned another yet. We had two in December so it will be next quarter. Updates/Reports: World Human Rights Day & Proclamation Page 9 of 13 HO: I attended the city council and the mayor read the proclamation on December 4" and I'll pass the proclamation around and its part of your package as well. On Human Rights Day several things happened. There was a gathering at the Old Capital in the senate chambers inside and we tried to get the mayor to read the proclamation, but he wasn't available. I pursued that and he had another prior engagement, and so I took and read it. There was an article in the Daily Iowan regarding the Human Rights Day and my reading the proclamation there on behalf of the Human Rights Commission. That's about all I have to report on that right at this point. Any questions? SG: I was just going to add that I came unfortunately and I missed Harry's reading, but I was there for the rest of the day. It was good because there were so many different groups that heard you because they came from all across campus, different groups that are addressing the issues of Human Rights. So 1 found that notjust the mayor accepted it, but it became more like an awareness raising about what the Commission is doing. HO: Right, they took and read the whole document of the Declaration of Human Rights one section at a time, and then somebody from an organization on campus a representative of a human rights group spoke about their group and told people what they did. 1 thought it was quite interesting, and 1 was very interested in the number of groups that are on campus dealing with human rights. It was good to see. KH: Shams thanks for all the work that you did or whoever else was involved in editing. Thank you so much. Ad Hoc Diversity Committee OT: We have been doing a little planning of terms in reaching out and getting out into the community. We had the program at the library and it was well attended and productive. Certain communities were not there so we're going to have sub groups to have meetings in the community. We're going to have a meeting in both high schools, City and West, Pheasant Ridge, but basically to get feedback. The feedback will be pertaining to the two choices we had about transportation and . So hopefully we'll be getting more information. HO: How are you going to publicize that? OT: It will be coming out Marian the city clerk is going to take care of that whether it flyers or newspapers or what. The meetings are going to be in January, like the 8" or 9" or 10th. HO: Any questions or further discussion? We appreciate Orville being on that committee. SG: Instead of a draft form just, I'm involved with other local groups and the school district is putting together a diversity format. There is something about a discussion regarding how to address issues of low income, social economic students. We were sort of still looking into it with the group I'm with, and 1 really think, I hope before it becomes final somehow if you can, can you get information from the school board about that, forms ahead of time? The language that I saw today was not very good. I wasn't the only one in the group that felt that way. So 1 just wondered if you couldjump ahead. KH: I mean because it's not very clear because actually what they want to do is try to redistribute , and they want to get the high schools at 50... SG: And the technology used is not good. KH: Right and the elementary are within 15 points of each other. SG: They're using a word that should not be used in that context. OT: I'll tell you what Joan Vandenberg is on that Ad Hoc Diversity Committee. Why don't you send mean email just outlining what you want, and then basically I'll ... SG: Address issues of diversity, it shouldn't always be social economics, but apparently because of the Supreme Court decision you cannot say you have to either define or ethnicity or racial issues as a part of diversity. The only word they can use is something about the social economic status of the students. So I don't know how we can get that information to also address issues of ethnic racial diversity. DF: I think the challenge might be Ad Hoc Diversity Committee wouldn't have any purview to go into the school districts. Because it is municipal police, transportation. KH: The school board has for the first time three different times (multiple voices) Page 10 of 13 SG: Yes if maybe Orville you would be able to attend and if there is a time for public comment, be aware of the language. I don't know how they can do it because I was told that they cannot put in the language anything about ethnic racial diversity according to the law. Now it has to be _ social economic, but they're using words like minority, which doesn't make any sense to me. OT: I'll get with you so you can give me more specifics so I know exactly what I need to talk about. I think Diane has a valid point you know Ad Hoc Committee is not likely to be able to address that because it's a school district thing. It's going to be interesting to see what type of _ comes out of the meeting with the students at City and West. KH: Is there any way that you can include Tate students that ? OT: I could, but I'll email Marian and ask about that possibility. KH: Because often times the students are the most marginal OT: I'll email her and indicate that this came up at the Human Rights meeting and a request. SG: Something else you said Orville the last time about the meeting that you had a good turnout, but it wasn't too many members of the African community. Were you able to address that? OT: The way we're going to address that is the meeting, you know when we have the meeting at City High School and West, and we'll be talking with the students. Then the.meeting at the _ you know and then at Pheasant Ridge 1 think we'll have a cross section. Building Communities OT: We met today and we have basically been collecting names of blacks in the community that might want to form a group to work to address issues in the black community. We have a meeting set for I think its January 30' and invite them to come so that we can sit down and discuss this, and anyone that wants to proceed with us basically we'll see if we can get a commitment from them. When we get the group together then the group will start identifying issues and setting goals that we want to accomplish. We've the groundwork set and now it's just a matter of getting everybody together. Jess do you have anything that you'd like to add to that? 1H: Yes you've hit it right on the head as far as what the purpose is. One of the main reasons for this group is we're trying to identify an African American community because what we are finding with a lot of issues that are coming up there is no clear leader. There is no one person someone can turn to. A lot of our African American families are not aware of their rights or where they can go for assistance. So if we can establish some type of community where people can get the information and feel comfortable with the information, we think things will flow better. So you know and actually the date it actually was February cause the dates were close. It will be February 7's actually, but again that's the purpose of the meeting because we want to establish a community. We are very hopeful for that, and like Orville said, we had great groundwork today. People were sharing great ideas. We found out new information pertaining to the families that we're working with. HO: Where are you planning on meeting? JH: It's either going to be the Coralville or... SG: It's the Iowa City Library, OT: The direction we want to take is the black community needs to become more involved in our future, and basically you need to have individuals from the black community to be more committed. One of the things we definitely need to do is we need individuals to start communicating more and working cooperating working better. We've got a lot of resources, but you know for some reason everybody is doing, you could have four people doing the same thing. We've got to do a better job of communicating and hopefully this is going to take off and we can identify some issues, and actually do some planning and start _ that's going to expand. KH: How are you recruiting or identifying key leaders in the community? OT: I ask each member of the committee to submit names and we'll start off with those individuals and as we get that going then we'll extend invitations to others. It's looking pretty good right now. Page 11 of 13 KH: So like Fred Newell's name came up? SB: He's on the sub -committee. KH: Chuck Taylor? OT: Yes his name was included. JH: What we're trying to do is establish the core, the inner circle first before we start to you know kind of spread out without necessarily having everything together in-house. From previous experiences we found that if we start to include so much without having a clear what we're trying to do, we get shot down quickly and then the work has just been done for nothing. Orville has brought up many times during our meetings that these types of programs have happened before, but for some reason things started to fall, and then we're back at square one. So we're trying to take a different approach to have a stronger foundation this go around. HO: Any other discussion? SB: I just want to mention that the event is open to the public and anyone can attend. CG: So did we decide what the date was? February T"? JH: Yes. SB: That's tentative because you have to reserve and get a confirmation and I have not gotten a confirmation, but I'm 95% sure that will be the date. Sometimes they block rooms even though you can't see it on the calendar. KH: Where will it be? SB: The Iowa City Public Library. University of Iowa Center for Human Rights HO: A lot has been happening and there is a lot of good coming out of it. For those who may not have seen this was in the Daily Iowan as well as in the Press Citizen, full page. I was quoted and just for a matter of transparency I will read what I wrote. Here I am as the chair -person of the Iowa City Human Rights Commission. The University of Iowa Center for Human Rights is developed aunique relationship between the University and the community through such programs as One Book, One Community, Child Labor Education, The Rights of Undocumented Immigrants and many fine ventures, workshops and movies all made available to the citizens of Johnson County at little or no cost to our citizens. We must support the efforts to keep The University of Iowa Center for Human Rights open. SB: What day was that in? HO: That was on the I&, on Human Rights Day. We met with the provost yesterday, the executive board of the Center and I was included in that meeting. The provost brought some good news to us, and I am not at liberty to discuss the details of it because we want the provost to make that announcement, but there is some good coming out of all of this. There was on December 5" the students organized a demonstration, which you may have seen in the paper as well as on channel nine covered it. Howard and myself were down there, but I don't know if anybody else was there. We protested in front of the old capital and then we marched over to Jessup Hall, which is where the President of the University Sally Mason has her offices and chanted out in front. So it comes to light that there is some need to keep the center open and I guess I can assure... SG: There was pressure. HO: A little pressure. I can assure that the center will remain; it may not be the same identity as it is now, but it will remain in a form. Probably by next meeting you will all hear in the news what's going on. Commission DT: Nothing SG: The Consultation of religious communities every year has an MLK event. They are going to do the same thing this year. So as soon as the program comes together I'll send it to you, but it's usually inter -faith readings. There is also a Page 12 of 13 faculty member who is a Muslim who is going to _ music and reading specific verses from the holy Koran that goes hand in hand with the theme this year, which is justice and equality. HO: Do you know where that will be held? SG: I'm going to get more information. Tomorrow the CRC is meeting and they will come up with a time. I'll send it to you. DF: I'm very excited about the development of a worker justice center that's coming up Immigrant Voices Project, and there was a meeting scheduled Thursday, but it was postponed until February and 1 don't have that date. It's a very exciting initiative, the big communities, labor unions, university community activists that are involved in making this come to be, and they've but in a 501 (c) 3 so there's a non-profit status. They are getting some grants and it's very exciting. It's just this power of the community coming forth and making it happen. The next meeting is in February, but if anyone else is interested I'd be glad to share. JH: No. OT: I would just like to extend an invitation and a challenge to the Commission. That is collectively we possess a lot of resources and the invitation I would extend, which is also a challenge is that we all have our own individual groups or agendas and things that we want to push. We have like the black community tome, that is my priority, but that doesn't mean that if someone else is working on an issue that I can't work with them to make that happen. This is just not about the black community, it's about the community. So I'm hoping that in the future we can do a betterjob of working with and supporting each other, and communicating more with each other. That's all. KH: No. CG: Nothing HO: I saw a commercial and it was very disturbing on TV the other day. It was from Kraft Foods, which one of the subsidiaries is Jell-O. It was about the Mayans and the Mayan ruins, and I went online and found there is quite an interest about this commercial that they were very culturally insensitive to what the Mayans have done. It was regarding the December 21", the end of the world, and how they had these explorers that went up the Mayan temple ruins, but the commercial at the end it was, they talked about how the Mayans sacrificed to the gods and they went up and they put this big package down and opened it up and it was Jell-O pudding and he said I would sacrifice this to the Gods. 1 thought it was just very culturally insensitive. So I encourage anybody that could either write or call Kraft Foods and complain about the commercial to do so. There is more information online about it. Staff SB: I just want to follow up with a question that was asked at the last Commission meeting concerning anonymous correspondence. I spoke with the city clerk and she said if anonymous correspondence is received for the city council that it is destroyed and not included. So that was something that I don't remember who had the question now, but I remember somebody had asked about that. I did speak with the city clerk to see how that's handled. So basically there is no anonymous correspondence. SG: Whenever I send something which I have in the past, a letter to the board, it always says you have to identify your name, your address and your contact information, and that it is going to be public. HO: Stefanie regarding the status of complaints. You have one here that has gone to ajudicial review. The complainant alleges that he was discriminated against due to disability. Does that mean it's going to the courts or? SB: No it just means that they've asked for further review. If a complaint is administratively closed or as I call it ac. The compliant can appeal. Somebody can object to that and that would be what that is, but it would stay with the office. HO: Anything else Stefanie? SB: No I don't think so. Next Regular Meeting — January 15, 2013 at 18:00. Adjournment: Motion to adjourn at 19:03. Page 13 of 13 Human Rights Commission ATTENDANCE RECORD 2012 (Meeting Date NAME TERM EXP. 1117 2121 3120 4117 5115 6119 7117 8121 9118 10116 11120 12/18 Dr. Howard Cowen 111113 X X DIE X O/E X DIE X O/E X O/E DIE Constance Goeb 1/1113 X O/E X X O/E O/E X X X X X X Harry Olmstead (8-1-2010) 111113 X X X X X X X X X X X X David B. Brown 1/11/14 X DIE DIE O/E R j R R R R R R R Diane Finnerty 111/14 O/E X X X X X O/E X DIE O/E X X Orville Townsend, Sr. 111/14 X X X X X X X X X X X X Henri Harper 111/15 O/E X DIE R R R R R R R R R Kim Hanrahan 1/1/15 X X. X X X X X O/E X X X X Shams Ghoneim 111/15 O/E X X X X X X X X DIE X X Jessie Harper (Appointed 6-5- 12) 1/1/15 - - - - - O/E X X DIE X O/E X Dan Tallon (Appointed 7- 31-12) 1/1114 - - - - - - - X X X O/E X KEY: X = Present O = Absent O/E = AbsentlExcused NM = No meeting/No Quorum R = Resigned - = Not a Member Attachment Human Rights Meeting Minutes 12/18/12 To: Iowa City Human Rights Commission From: Subcommittee on Immigrant Human Rights Date: December 12, 2012 Background: The Iowa City Human Rights Commission (ICHRC) in response to community concerns on the plight of immigrants in the Iowa City community made nine recommendations to the City Council in the fall of 2011. The City Council did not reach consensus on many of the recommendations but did request the ICHRC proceed on the two cited below. Recommendation 4) Increase Access to City Services by Immigrant Communities, particularly those identified as most -used in the "We Are Iowa City" survey data. As discussed above, it is clear that several City services are currently accessed and appreciated by local immigrant communities. Given the connection that currently exists, we recommend that these services increase outreach to non-native English speakers by developing brochures and resources in other languages. For example, we encourage that a version of the Recreation Services program and policies be offered in at least Spanish, and that signage in more than one language be posted in the facilities. Recommendation 10) Create a Standing Immigrant Review Committee: Given the well-founded reluctance of many people in the immigrant community to come forward with concerns of rights violations and/or recommendations for community improvements, we recommend that the IC Human Rights Commission create a stand- alone subcommittee focused on reaching out and serving as a vehicle for the voices of immigrants living in Iowa City. This committee could include membership from the IC Human Rights Commission (2 members); the Police Citizen Review Board (1 member), members at large (2 members to be appointed by the Iowa City City Council), and 3-5 members of the local immigrant community. Details for how often they would meet and how they would channel their recommendations to the City leadership are left to be developed, but we encourage this committee as a conduit between the community and City leadership, since such a connection does not naturally occur in our current system. The ICHRC established The Subcommittee on Immigrant Human Rights (IHR) in February 2012. The purpose of the IHR is to be a voice for those immigrants in the Iowa City community whose voices may not be heard and to convey their concerns to the ICHRC, City Council and City staff. Giving immigrants the support and encouragement to come forward and speak for themselves. On September 18, 2012 & October 9, 2012 members of the IHR including Commission member Kim Hanrahan met with the Human Rights Coordinator, Stefanie Bowers, to tour City facilities. Hanrahan and Bowers were the only native English speakers participating in the tours; other participants were native Spanish speakers. The tours were arranged to determine what signage in Spanish would be most helpful in navigating City Departments. The Public Library, Robert A. Lee Community Recreational Center, City Manager's Office, Cashier's Desk (Revenue Division), Police Department, Personnel, Main Information Desk (City Hall), Housing Authority and Human Rights were all visited on the tours. What follows are the recommendations based upon the two tours. Recommendations: Cashier's Desk (Revenue Division) 1) Signage that announces department in Spanish. 2) Brochures/handbills in Spanish available at the counter that describe and explain the services offered at the Cashier's Desk. 3) All flyers, signs or notices affixed to bulletin board (to the right of the counter) posted in Spanish. City Manager's Office 4) Handouts on permit process and application for permits available in Spanish. Robert A. Lee Community Recreational Center 5) Activity guide published in Spanish. 6) Activity guide published in Spanish distributed throughout the Latino community in Iowa City. 7) Signage at checkout desk in Spanish. Signage in Spanish should include what forms of identification are required to utilize specific services. 8) Signage in Spanish in upper level notifying of services located on that level. Public Library 9) Visible "Check Out" signage in Spanish 10) Brochures or handbills in Spanish explaining library services. 11) Signage in Spanish identifying the Children's Area. 12) Library Calendar of events available in Spanish in a printed format. Iowa City/Johnson County Senior Center 13) Program guide published in Spanish in a printed format. 14) Calendar of events published in Spanish in a printed format. 15) Programming reflecting the ethnic and cultural diversity of Iowa City. 16) Outreach to immigrant communities notifying of the services and programs offered at The Center. Information Desk (City Hall) 17) "Main Lobby" signage in Spanish. Additional Recommendations related to City Services in General 18) Mandatory employee training on how to use the Language Line Service. 19) Signs for Language Line larger and more visible in all departments. 20) Pamphlets or brochures published in Spanish that explain the function of City Government available in a printed form. 21) Pamphlets or brochures published in Spanish that explain City Services and the function of each department. Materials should include specific sections on refuse collection, recycling and how to read a water bill. Pamphlets or brochures should be available in a printed form. 22) Universal Identification Card that can be used as identification for all City Services and at all City Facilities. Agenda Items Agenda Item 4-c Stefanie Bowers From: Toni -Ann Serio <toniannserio@gmail.com> Sent: Wednesday, December 19, 2012 2:53 PM To: HumanRights Subject: from the Emma Goldman Clinic: Choice Event 2013 Sponsorship Attachments: CEsponsor2013.docx To Whom It May Concern; My name is Toni -Ann Serio, and I am the Executive Assistant at the Emma Goldman Clinic. I am emailing you about sponsoring our 2013 Annual Choice Event. This year's event will be held Friday, Feb. 1st, at the Hotel Vetro in downtown Iowa City. As always, all the money we raise for this event goes to the deProsse Access Fund, which subsidizes services for low income and under -insured women and men accessing health care services at Emma. Attached to this email is an informational letter that details the cost of this year's sponsorship, and all that comes with it, along with a form which you can email/mail back to me with your sponsorship. If you have any questions, please feel free to email me or call me at the clinic. Thank you for your time, Toni -Ann Serio Executive Assistant Emma Goldman Clinic 319-337-2111 toniannserio@pmail.com Agenda Item 4-c EMMA GOLDMAN CLINIC Women's Health Project PHONE (319) 337-2112 227 N. Dubuque Street FAX (319) 337-2754 Iowa City, Iowa 52245 EMAIL toniannserio@gmail.com December 17. 2012 Dear Business Owner: The Emma Goldman Clinic is making plans for our 2013 Choice Event. The past success of this annual event is credited largely to you --our sponsors --who lend your names, attendance and financial support to the event. The money we raise each year goes to the deProsse Access Fund, which subsidizes services for low income and under -insured women and men accessing health care services at the clinic. By participating as a sponsor, your business or organization's name will be listed in the Choice Event program, Choice Event video display, Choice List email, and Emma's Journal newsletter. This advertising reaches approximately 2000 community members. The sponsorship amount is $250 and includes 2 tickets for the Choice Event (a $100 value), and you'll be able to enjoy excellent exposure to a large, diverse, and supportive audience. We're counting on your support, and will be happy to answer any questions you may have. In the next few weeks a clinic representative will be contacting you to see if you received this correspondence and if you are interested in being a sponsor of the Emma Goldman Clinic's 2013 Choice Event. Thank you in advance for your willingness to support the efforts of the Emma Goldman Clinic and make a difference in our community. Sincerely, Toni -Ann Serio Executive Assistant PS. If you already know you are interested in sponsorship, please complete the sponsorship form and return with payment by January 28th, 2013. SAVE THE DATE Emma Goldman Clinic Choice Event Friday, February V, 2013 Guest Speaker: Heather Ault Agenda Item 4-c EMMA GOLDMAN CLINIC CHOICE EVENT 2013 SPONSORSHIP *Please return this form with your payment by January 28th, 2013* Organization/Individual Name (as you would like it to appear in media) Contact Name Address (City, State, Zip) Phone Number Amount of sponsorship $2S0 (includes TWO event tickets, entire amount is tax-deductible) Please make checks to the Emma Goldman Clinic Charge to Visa/MC/Discover Name on card: Card # Expires: Signature: Business logos need to be in JPG format. All logos can be emailed to Susan at mailto:egc.cps(@gmail.com by January 28th, 2013. Correspondence The City of Iowa City AD HOC DIVERSITY COMMITTEE PUBLIC INFORMATION GATHERING SESSIONS Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2013 Jan. 9, 2013 Jan. 10, 2013 6:00 p.m. 6:00 p.m. 6:00 p.m. Pheasant Ridge Center Hy-Vee Waterfront The Spot 2651 Roberts Drive Club Room 1030 Crosspark Ave. 1720 Waterfront Drive TOPICS: ➢ operation of the City's transit system, including but not limited to the downtown interchange; and ➢ operation of the City law enforcement, including but not limited to the Police Citizens Review Board (PCRB) as it relates to minority populations with a view toward promoting just and harmonious interaction between City government and minority segments of the community. Persons are encouraged to attend the information gathering sessions and share comments and concerns. Individuals needing special accommodations or having translation questions should contact City Clerk Marian Karr at 356-5041 at least 48 hours prior to the date and time. If you are unable to attend, comments may be sent to: Ad Hoc Diversity Committee % City Clerk City of Iowa City 410 E Washington St Iowa City, IA 52240 Or e-mail to staff: marian-karr@iowa-city.org Comments must include full name and address. All correspondence is public. (Anonymous correspondence will not be accepted.)