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HomeMy WebLinkAbout11-18-2014 Human Rights CommissionAGENDA HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION HELLING CONFERENCE ROOM, CITY HALL November 18, 2014 6:30 P.M. 1. Call Meeting to Order/ Roll Call 2. Approval of Minutes from the October 21, 2014 Meeting 3. Public Comment of Items Not on the Agenda 4. Reports: a. Human Rights Breakfast i. Location 2015 b. Job Fair c. Public Accommodation Training d. Education Subcommittee (Retish, Olmstead, Coulter) i. Letter to Superintendent re: Office of Civil Rights e. Building Communities Subcommittee (Townsend) f. University of Iowa Center for Human Rights Board (Ghoneim, Olmstead) g. Commission It. Staff 5. Set Next Regular Meeting Date: December 15 at 6:00 pm 6. Adjourn The Human Rights Commission meetings follow the Iowa City Community School District closings for inclement weather except for early dismissals for heat. Minutes Human Rights Commission October 21, 2014 — 6 PM Helling Conference Room Preliminary Members Present: Harry Olmstead, Shams Ghoneim, Orville Townsend, Ali Ahmed, Kim Hanrahan, Joe Coulter, Stella Hart. Members Excused: Paul Retish, Andrea Cohen. Staff Present: Stefanie Bowers. Recommendations to Council: No. Call to Order: Olmstead called the meeting to order at 18:00. Consideration of the Minutes from the September 16, 2014 & October 2, 2014 Meeting Dates: Motion Coulter, seconded by Hanrahan. Motion passed 7-0. Motion Townsend, seconded Coulter. Motion passed 7-0. Meeting Business: Change time of November 18 meetingfrom 6 pm to 6:30 pm. Motion Coulter, seconded by Townsend. Motion passed 7-0. Sponsorship Request from the University oflowa Center for Human Rights The event is Saturday, November 15 from 8:30-4:30 at the University of Iowa Capital Centre. The event celebrates the 15th anniversary of the University of Iowa Center for Human Rights and also will have a series of panel discussions on The Future of Human Rights in the Academy and the Community. The Commission agreed to offer non -monetary support for this event. Motion Coulter, seconded by Hanrahan. Motion passed. 6-0. Olmstead abstained citing conflict of interest due to serving on the Center for Human Rights Board of Directors and assisting in planning this event. Goal Setting Session This item will be placed on the December agenda for final approval to allow for Retish and Cohen to participate. Waiting until December also allows the Commission to know who its 3 new Commissioners will be for 2015. Human Rights Breakfast The Breakfast is scheduled for Wednesday, October 29 at 7:30 am. The Honorable Jim Leach will be the keynote speaker and 6 awards will be presented to the following: The Council of International Visitors -Jo Butterfield, John Sfimmel, Diane Finnerty, Ginny Naso-United Action for Youth, Dr. Christopher Buresh, and Mike Quinlan. Job Fair The Job Fair is scheudled for Thursday, October 30 from 4-6 pm at the Eastdale Plaza. 17 employers are currently registered to attend along with several social service agencies. Public Accommodation Training A training on public accommodation discrimination will be held on Wednesday, November 12 at the Iowa City Public Library from 1-3 pm. Reports: Human Rights Opportunity Fair This event was held on September 17 at the T. Anne Cleary Walkway on the University of Iowa Campus, Mr. Townsend reports it was a nice location to get a flow of students and there was a fair percent of students that stopped by to see what was going on. Defending Migrants' Rights Hart and Cohen met with the Russian guests, who wanted to know what the Human Rights Commission does. Hart and Cohen both said the guests had very good questions. Hart said they were mostly lawyers for immigration and it was a good dialogue with all asking questions of each other with the assistance of two translators. Ghoneim added she met with the same group again at the Law School with Professor Brian Farrell and so she shared some of the topics of the American Civil Liberties Union -Iowa of which Ghoneim is a board member. Education Subcommittee Bowers spoke on behalf of Retish who was unable to attend the Commission meeting. Retish asked that the Commission send a letter to the Iowa City Community School Board (ICCSD) in reference to West High School having a football game on the start of the holiest day for Jewish individuals, Yom Kippur. Retish reported via email that the ICCSD has received calendars informing them of this date and somehow it did not register. Retish believes a letter encouraging ICCSD to be more aware of all religious observances and to be responsible to its students should be sent. Townsend not present for discussion or vote. Townsend had left meeting prior to accept proclamation from Council for 2014 National Disability Employment Awareness Month (October). Motion Coulter, seconded by Ghoneim. Motion passed 6-0. (Townsend not present). The Past, Present, Future: The History of Minorities Views on Law Enforcement Chair Olmstead had read an article in the Daily Iowan about a recent panel discussion in which someone in the article is quoted as saying that "some African -Americans in Johnson County live in fear of the police." Chair Olmstead would like to explore this topic. Bowers thought it might be a good fit for the education committee. This topic was placed on the agenda to see if there was any interest in it. This item will be moved to the November agenda if there is any interest on creating such a program. Building Communities Townsend reported that the Black Voices Project is working with the ICCSD in terms of requesting information concerning its hiring practices. And that as a member of the school board, he is requesting information on the ICCSD's hiring practices to see exactly what the procedure is that they use. One of Townsend's concerns is that some minorities in the school district who have applied for positions but are not selected feel like they do not have a future with the ICCSD and leave. Townsend believes the process needs to reviewed to make sure that the system is fair and that administration is having some input into the selection process to make sure that opportunities to bring a minority on board are not being missed. Commission Hart has been organizing a free and open to the public street harassment bystander intervention training that will be held on November 6 at First Baptist Church. The training will be led by a representative from the Women's Resource and Action Center (WRAC). Coulter reminded Commissioners to read the Equity Report and that it is an important process of this commission. Olmstead mentioned that there will be another screening of Woke Up Black on October 23 at 6:30pm at Phillips Hall on the University of Iowa Campus. Olmstead also noted the City has allocated another $50,000 for curb cuts for sidewalks but this is over a two year period of time. Olmstead said we were all led to believe this was for the next year, but it's actually two years. Olmstead also reported he had gone to the Task Force on Aging concerning the City's lack of compliance with curb cuts for sidewalks, not knowing that the chairperson was a former attorney for the government who took it upon himself to write a letter to the US Attorney's Office. The US Attorney's Office in turn said we will investigate it. The US Attorney's Office contacted Olmstead about it and he provided information on what he knew. Olmstead also reminded Commissioners that the Council said they were going to provide storage shelters for individuals' belongings that are currently homeless and he thinks the commission should remind them of this because winter is coming up pretty quickly. Staff Bowers recently attended a program sponsored by Diversity Focus called Cracking the Code which looked at ways to increase diversity within the workforce. The office is also in the process of selecting an intern for next spring. Bowers also presented to the Chamber Leadership Program recently on civil rights and she and other City staff attended a meeting on Community IDs held by the County within the last month. Adjournment: 19:25 Next Regular Meeting — November 18, 2014 at 6:30 pm. Human Rights Commission ATTENDANCE RECORD YEAR 2013/2014 (Meeting Date NAME TERM EXP. 11/19/ 13 12/17/ 13 1/21/ 14 2/18/ 14 3/18/ 14 4/29/ 14 5/20/ 14 6/17/ 14 7/15/ 14 8/19/ 14 9/16/ 14 10/2/ 14 10/21/ 14 Ali Ahmed 1/l/17 - - X X O/E O/E O/E X X X O/E X X Orville Townsend, Sr. 1/1/17 X X X X X O/E X X X X X X X Paul Retish I/I/17 X X X X O/E X X X O/E X O/E X O/E Kim Hanrahan 111115 O/E X X X X X O/E O/E X X X X X Shams Ghoneim 111115 X X O/E X X X X X X X X X X Stella Hart 111115 - - - - - - - X X X O/E X X Jewell Amos 1/l/15 O/E X X X O/E R R R R R R R R Joe D. Coulter 1/1116 X X X X X X X X O/E X X X X Harry Olmstead 1/1/16 X X X X X X X X X X X X X Andrea Cohen 1/l/16 X X X X O/E X X X X X O/E X p/E KEY: X = Present O = Absent O/E= Absent/Excused NM= No meeting -- = No longer a member R =Resignation 0 Agenda Item 4di Stefanie Bowers From: Retish, Paul M <paul-retish@uiowa.edu> Sent: Thursday, October 23, 2014 11:59 AM To: Stefanie Bowers Attachments: Stef Letter to ICCSD Super. 10.22.2014docx.docx Stef enclosed is the suggested letter the Ed. committee would like to send to Supt of Schools. Please share this with the Commission for discussion at the next C9ommission meeting I do not think I can attend but Harry and Joe can answer questions paul Agenda Item 4di Stefanie Bowers: Enclosed is a suggested memo we, the Education Committee, would like to send to the leadership of the Iowa City Schools. We would like to meet with these leaders to discuss the issues we have brought up. Our plan is to have the Human Rights Commission members see the memo, add suggestions or deletions, and then have the memo forwarded to the Superintendent. Harry, Joe, Paul would be in attendance. You would also be welcome to come along if you wish. Could you please share this with the Commission members to get their reaction and we will go from there. Memo to: Superintendent Stephan F. Murley Iowa City Community School District (ICCSD) From: Education Committee, Iowa City Human Rights Commission Dear Superintendent Murley: On behalf of the Human Rights Commission, we would like to meet with you to discuss the following issues and tobe updated on the progress made in each area. We would also appreciate a copy of the original United States, Department of Education Office of Civil Rights (OCR) document the District received recently, the Districts answers to the OCR report, and the response of OCR to the District's answers. Questions to be discussed; 1. What are the current processes and practices being used by ICCSD to recruit, hire, and retain more diverse teachers, administrators, and staff? 2. What are the status and future goals of the programs for minority and second language learners in special education classes? What support is provided for those students removed from special education and placed in the mainstream? 3. What is the status of the response by ICCSD to the OCR report and follow up? November Correspondence Stefanie Bowers From: bmkimz@gmail.com on behalf of Brittany Kimzey <brittany-kmzey@uiowa.edu> Sent: Wednesday, October 29, 2014 12:04 PM Cc: Stefanie Bowers; Harry Olmstead; Andrea Cohen Subject: Community dinner Attachments: Community dinner flyer.pdf Hello Iowa City Human Rights Commission, I'm contacting you to pass along a formal invitation to a Community Dinner that is being sponsored by the UI Center for Human Rights and the Human Rights Student Collective. The purpose of the dinner is to bring together the UI community and the Iowa City community. With the holidays right around the corner this is the perfect time to together and remind our communities to be thankful. I've attached the invite to this e-mail as a PDF. It will be a potluck so we ask that if you can bring a side dish that you please do. If you're unable to do so, it's not a problem, the dinner will be supported by donations from local business'. We hope that you will be available to attend, please RSVP to me or Julia as the flyer indicates. Best, Brittany Kimzey Brittany Kimzey University of Iowa Amnesty International President Students for Human Rights Vice President of Operations Center for Human Rights hitern briqgM,&kimzey@uiowa.edu Stefanie Bowers From: Harry Olmstead <Harry03@aol.com> Sent: Wednesday, October 29, 2014 8:02 PM To: Council Cc: Stefanie Bowers Subject: Human Rights Commission Applicants This correspondence will become a public record Dear Mayor and Council Members: I am the current chairperson of the Iowa City Human Rights Commission, but I'm not writing on the commission's behalf because this was not discussed with them. I feel compelled to write in support of the three current commissioners whose terms expire at the end of this year and all three have re -applied to be reappointed to the Iowa City Human Rights Commission. Having worked with each of these commissioner during their term on the commission I can unequivocally attest to their hard work, keen insights, dedicated involvement, and willingness to serve has made for a Human Rights Commission that has been able to offer many outstanding programs for our city which we are all proud of. The three commissioners I'm referring to are: Shame Ghoneim who brings vast knowledge, diversity, and involvement in many community organizations including being on the Iowa City Press Citizen editorial board and president of the ACLU, Kim Hanrahan who came right on board and accepted responsibilities of our immigrants committee and led the way for the city to have first-hand knowledge of the need to make our city multilingual in its signage by organizing a group of immigrants to take a tour of city hall, library, and Robert E. Lee recreational center, she also has brought her knowledge of working with youth from her social worker position at United Action for Youth to our commission to direct us in better relationship building with the youth of our city, and Stella Hart our newest member who came to her first meeting and volunteered to be at an educational booth promoting Iowa City Human Rights Commission, she has gone on outside of the commission to organize very successfully a group of local residents from all age groups and sexes to recognize the concerns primarily women have of street hackleing, Stella has only been on the commission a short time finishing an unexpired term of a previous commissioner. I hope you share with me the need for consistency on the commission and are moved to re -appoint these three outstanding women commissioners. If you wish to speak to me about any of these commissioners don't hesitate to contact me at 319-338-2931. Sincerely, Harry Olmstead i I ' - IOWA CITY HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION 51 YEARS OF ADVANCING EQUALITY 1963 2014 The City of Iowa City Human Rights Commission would like to thank you for attending the 31st Annual Human Rights Awards Breakfast in the Second Floor Ballroom of the Iowa Memorial Union on October 29th. Over 135 community members came together to recognize the honorees: Ginny Naso, Diane Finnerty, Dr. Christopher Buresh, Mike Quinlan, Council for International Visitors to Iowa Cities, John Stimmel, and the keynote speaker the Honorable James Leach. Because we want the Awards Breakfast to continually be a successful well organized event, we would ask that you take the time to send any comments positive or constructive to humanrights@iowa-city.org. We would also encourage you to nominate those in our community who have contributed to human rights, locally or abroad. We will begin accepting nominations July 1, 2015 for the 32nd Annual Human Rights Awards Breakfast. In the meantime, please visit our website at www.icgov.org/humanrights to view our upcoming events or to learn more about what we do as the Iowa City Human Rights Commission. The Commission is a great community resource for trainings, information and educational programs on civil rights. In closing, please remember that the Awards Program was recorded and will be replayed on City Channel 4. It will also be available for streaming at http://www.citychannel4.com/. We hope to see you next year! Best regards, Harry Olmstead (Chair), Andrea Cohen (Vice Chair), All Ahmed, Joe D. Coulter, Shams Ghoneim, Kim Hanrahan, Stella Hart, Paul Retish, Orville Townsend Sr. rririrrrrrrrirriririfiiririiriiririrfiaurririr�rr.�iririrrrrririiriririiri�rrirrrirfirrrrrirrirriirr�r��rr�rr�rrrrrf��r�rrr�r.-frfifrrr��,. UI Center for Human Rights Community Dinner Saturday, November 15th 5:30pm-7:30pm The Social Hall Robert A. Lee Community Center 220 S Gilbert St, Iowa City, IA 52240 Celebrate with us as we bring the Iowa City community together for the 15th Anniversary of the UI Center for Human Rights! We will be presenting the Founder's Award to Professor Shelton Stromquist, who has dedicated his life to labor history and worker's rights. Please RSVP to julia-julstrom- agoyo@uiowa.edu by Monday, Nov. 3 Individuals with disabilities are encouraged to attend all University of Iowa sponsored events. If you are a person with a disability who requires a reasonable accommodation in order to participate in this program, please contact the UICHR at (319)3353900. � was.mr.mq L THEUNNERwoF!Om HRSC CENTER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS z H FQ) UH[E _" Employment and housing discrimination, adoption, marriage (and similar arrangements), gender marker change !Sand more! police protection from harassment November 17th 2014 5=7 p.m. in the IMU Indiana Room Hors d'oeuvres and beverages will be provided Individuals with disabilities are encouraged to attend all University of Iowa -sponsored events. If you are a person with a disability who requires a reasonable accommodation in order to participate in this program, please contact Student Legal Services in advance at (319)-335-3276. 0 Chief Diversity Office Center for Diversity 8 Ennchment I 1 Equal O pportunity &Diversity Chief Diversity Office Applications are now being accepted for a VAGANCY:;� F IOWA CITY HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION to fill an unexpired term which will end on January 1, 2016. The comn-tission member who is .named to fill the seal, may request reappointment when the term expires. if he or she chooses to do so. Foil terms run for three:yea'rs. DUTIES OF THE COMMISSION INCLUDE disseminating information and edur_atina the public on civil and human rights. Including planning programs and activities to elirt nate various types of discrimination, and making recommendations to the City Council - The Commission meets at least once a month in the evening. with special meetings scheduled when necessary, Service is on a volunteer basis. Applicants must be at least 18 years of age and reside in Iowa City. Applications are available online at http:ifwww.icgov.orWhumanrights, by calling 35.6-S022 or by emailing humanrights@iowa-city.org. Completed applications are due in the City Clerk's Office. 410 E- Washington Street. by 5 p.m. on Wednesday. December 10. State law requires that most 'hoards and commissions he gender - balanced. Currently, five men and three women serve on the Human Rights Commission. COPY ® HUMAN CITY HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION 410 E. Washington Street • Iowa City, Iowa 52240-1826 (319) 356-5022 • (319) 887-6213 (FAX) www.icgov.org/humanrights November 13, 2014 President Chris Lynch Iowa City Community School District Board of Directors 1725 North Dodge Street Iowa City, IA 52245 President Lynch and Members of the Iowa City Community School District Board of Directors: I am writing you today to bring attention to a matter of great concern to members of the Iowa City Human Rights Commission. As part of our mission it is our responsibility to educate the community on the planning and conducting of programs designed to eliminate racial, religious, and cultural tensions. It was recently brought to our attention that West High School had a varsity football game on the evening of October 3rd. This date and time coincided with the start of the holiest day for Jewish individuals, Yom Kippur. We understand that the high school football games are not scheduled by the Iowa City Community School District (ICCSD) but by the Iowa High School Athletic Association therefore we would respectfully request that the ICCSD Board of Directors send correspondence to the Iowa High School Athletic Association asking them to stop scheduling school activities and programs on dates that are in conflict with religious observances so that all students in the ICCSD can fully participate in its programs and activities. In closing, we recommend that both the ICCSD and the Iowa High School Athletic Association utilize the following website http://www.interfhithcalendar.orgt when scheduling events. The purpose of this website is to make holy days of all religions available to the public. Please note that Human Rights Commissioner Orville Townsend was not present for this discussion or vote. Sincerely, ��/��.jy�� 1 GG11r''"' Harry Olmstead Chair