HomeMy WebLinkAbout10-20-2015 Human Rights CommissionAGENDA
HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION
Neighborhood and Development Services Conference Room (Second Floor)
October 20, 2015
5:30 P.M.
1. Call Meeting to Order/ Roll Call
2. Approval of Minutes from September 16, 2015 meeting
3. Public Comment of Items Not on the Agenda
4. New Business:
a. Human Rights Ordinance Amendments
5. Old Business:
a. Commission Action Plan 2015
i. Education Programming (Hart, Olmstead)
ii. Education Outreach (Ghoneim, Townsend, Ahmed)
iii. Community Outreach (Hanrahan, Pierce -Thomas)
iv. Council Outreach (Coulter, Retish)
1. Proclamations
a. National Disability Awareness Month (October 20)
b. National American Indian Heritage Month (November 10)
6. Upcoming Events/Programs:
a. Human Rights Awards Breakfast (October 28)
i. Program Details and Duties
7. Reports:
a. One Community, One Book — Just Mercy
i. Book Discussion (Iowa City Public Library) (September 30)
ii. Lecture (Iowa Memorial Union) (October 4)
b. Affordable and Accessible Housing Forum (October 5)
c. National Hispanic Heritage Month Proclamation (9/15-10/15)
d. Making Iowa City a Human Rights Community (Olmstead, Coulter, Hanrahan)
e. Job Fair (Retish) (October 22)
f. Education Subcommittee (Retish, Olmstead, Hanrahan)
g. Building Communities Subcommittee (Townsend)
h. University of Iowa Center for Human Rights Board (Ghoneim, Olmstead)
i. City Council Racial Equity & Diversity Initiative (Bowers)
j. Commission
k. Staff
8. Set Next Regular Meeting Date: November 17 at 5:30 pm location TBA.
9. Adjourn
The Human Rights Commission meetings follow the Iowa City Community School District closings for inclement weather
except for early dismissals for heat.
Minutes Preliminary
Human Rights Commission
September 16, 2015 — 5:30 PM
Helling Conference Room
Members Present: Kim Hanrahan, Orville Townsend Sr, Harry Olmstead, Paul Relish,
Shams Ghoneim, Edie Pierce -Thomas, Joe Coulter, Stella Hart.
Members Not Present: Ali Ahmed.
Staff Present: Stefanie Bowers.
Others Present: Alex Legeber.
Recommendations to Council: No.
Call to Order:
Coulter called the meeting to order at 5:30 p.m.
Consideration of the Minutes from the August 18, 2015 Meeting Date:
Olmstead noted one correction to the minutes under ADA Celebration. The word "has" should be
changed to "had".
Motion Olmstead, seconded by Ghoneim. Motion passed -7-0. (Pierce -Thomas not present).
Meeting Business
Commission Action Plan 2015
Education Programming
Hart has prepared the questions for panelists for the Affordable and Accessible Housing in Johnson
County program being held on October 5. Hanrahan will do the opening introduction, Olmstead will be
the moderator, and Hart will do the closing for the program.
(Pierce -Thomas present 5:38 pm)
Education Outreach
Ghoneim would like to discuss the possibility of hosting meetings with various organizations and
committees in the area. The meetings would allow the opportunity to let residents know their rights in a
variety of different areas such as discrimination. Bowers, Ghoneim, Townsend and Ahmed will meet in
the near future to discuss the best ways to organize around this idea.
Community Outreach
Hanrahan will email Bowers the questionnaire created in the spring of 2015 that asks a series of questions
as they relate to city services. At the next meeting Commissioners can decide if this questionnaire would
be useful to them as a tool to do outreach to the community. Commissioners could visit area organizations
and neighborhoods using the questionnaire as a guide to acquire feedback.
Council Outreach
Commissioners voted to submit three proclamations to the Mayor for his consideration: National Hispanic
Month (Hart), National Disabilities Awareness Month (Olmstead), National American Indian Heritage
Month (Coulter).
Motion Pierce -Thomas, seconded by Olmstead. Motion passed 8-0.
One Community, One Book -Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson (September 30 & October 4)
Hanrahan, Olmstead, Retish and Hart will attend the book discussion on September 30.
Coulter plans on attending the formal discussion with author Bryan Stevenson on October 4.
Human Rights Awards Breakfast (October 28)
Hanrahan will do the introduction at the Breakfast, Olmstead will introduce the keynote speaker, Pierce -
Thomas will present the awards, and Coulter will do the closing.
Reports
Job Fair
The job and resource fair will be held on October 22 from 4:00-6:00 p.m. at the Eastdale Plaza.
Employers are currently being contacted and asked to participate in this event.
Building Communities
Townsend mentioned the reception held for newly hired Black administrators at the Iowa City
Community School District through The Black Voices Project.
Making Iowa City a Human Rights Community
Coulter reported that the last meeting held on this matter was very brief meeting and did not last long
Another meeting should be scheduled in the future.
University of Iowa Centerfor Human Rights
The Center has several upcoming events which Ghoneim and Olmstead will forward to the Commission
as materials become available.
Education Subcommittee
At the last Iowa City Community School District Equity Committee meeting there was a presentation
from the principal of Tate High School who spoke on the programs offered at the school.
The Equity Committee plans to get more information on the trainings provided to all staff and teachers
throughout the District as it relates to diversity and conflict resolution.
Commission
Hart- October is Domestic Violence Awareness month.
Olmstead - Prairie Lights (Paul's Book Club) will be hosting a book discussion on Just Mercy in addition
to the one being held at the library on September 30. Olmstead believes it would be beneficial to have
Simon Andrew, Assistant to the City Manager, speak at a future Commission meeting about his role as
the ADA Coordinator. He also wished Hanrahan a happy belated birthday.
Townsend - Believes that the City Manager has been doing a lot to make things better and doing a good
job listening to the community.
Hanrahan - Reminded Commissioners to get out and vote for City Council.
Coulter - Asked that Commissioners read the Equity Report for the next meeting to offer any suggestions
on content or actions.
Ghoneim - Will be speaking with a visiting group from Venezela in the near future on voting rights. She
will also speak with youth in Kalona on October 2 about faith.
Bowers — Spoke on the Equity Report and other equity -related information that is available on the City's
website.
Adjournment: 6:54 p.m.
Next Regular Meeting — October 20, 2015 at 5:30 p.m.
Human Rights Commission
ATTENDANCE RECORD
YEAR 2014/2015
(Meeting Date)
NAME
TERM
EXP.
10/21/
14
11/18/
14
12/15/
14
1/20/
15
2/17/
15
3/17/
15
4/1/
15
4/21
15
5/19
15
6/16
15
7/21
15
8/18
15
9/16
15
Edie Pierce-
Thomas
1/1/2016
-
-
-
X
O/E
X
X
X
O/E
X
X
X
X
Joe D. Coulter
1/1/2016
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
O/E
X
X
Harry
Olmstead
1/1/2016
X
X
X
X
X
O/E
X
X
X
O/E
X
X
X
Paul Relish
1/1/2017
O/E
O/E
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
All Ahmed
1/1/2017
X
X
X
O
X
O/E
X
X
X
O/E
X
X
O/E
Orville
Townsend, Sr.
1/12017
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
O/E
X
X
X
Kim
Hanrahan
1/l2018
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
O/E
X
X
X
Shama
Ghoneim
1/l/2018
X
X
X
O/E
X
O/E
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
Stella Hart
1/l2018
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
O/E
X
X
X
X
KEY: X = Present
O = Absent
O/E = Absent/Excused
NM = No meeting
-- = No longer a member
R = Resignation
EI
October Agenda Packet
Agenda Item 4a
r
tom`.®rah CITY OF IOWA CITY
MEMORANDUM
Date: October 1, 2015
To: Human Rights Commission
From: Kristin Watson, Human Rights Investigator KtAK,
Re: Human Rights Ordinance Revision
Introduction/Background:
Revisions have been made to Title 2 of the City Code (the Human Rights Ordinance) in
order to (1) make it substantially equivalent to the Fair Housing Act and (2) update its
provisions to reflect a more practical enforcement mechanism for both staff and the
public.
Discussion:
Most changes are not substantive, and involve only rearranging for clarity. Changes worthy of
noting are:
• 'Chapter 5, Fair Housing,' has been incorporated into the general provisions prohibiting
discrimination. Having a separate Chapter for fair housing was confusing,' as some
enforcement provisions were contained in Chapter 5 alone and applied only to housing,
while others were contained in the general provisions of 'Chapter 4, Enforcement.'
Two instances of the word 'citizen' have been changed to 'individual.' (See §2-1-2 and
§2-2-1.) A person need not be a citizen, either of the U.S. or Iowa City, in order to file a
complaint.
Both the general ordinance and the housing chapter contained definitions of 'person.'
These definitions have been combined. (See §2-1-1.)
• The definition of 'housing accommodation' has been removed. There is no counterpart to
this phrase in the FHA, and it presently serves no purpose. 'Housing accommodation'
has a slightly wider scope than 'dwelling,' in that it would apply to temporary sleeping
places such as a homeless shelter. However, people utilizing temporary sleeping
spaces are protected under the public accommodations sections of the human rights
ordinance.
• Conciliation procedures have been updated. Formerly, the Coordinator was required to
attempt conciliation for a period of 30 days. The section has been revised to allow the
Human Rights Coordinator to determine whether conciliation efforts should be utilized,
' The fair housing chapter existed separately because it is older than the general human rights ordinance.
When the ordinances forbidding discrimination on the additional bases of employment, public
accommodation, education and credit were created, the fair housing chapter was retained.
October 1, 2015
Page 2
and if utilized, removes the requirement of waiting 30 days before declaring the process
unsuccessful. (See §2-4-5.)
In civil proceedings regarding housing, the ordinance stated that upon request of the
complainant pursuant to §2-4-11, the human rights coordinator shall authorize, and the
city attorney shall commence, a civil suit. These instances of the imperative 'shall' have
been changed to 'may,' to prevent the City from being forced to commence and
maintain a legal action in connection with a complaint it might not consider litigation
worthy. (See §2-4-12.)
Recommendation:
It is recommended that the revised Title 2 be submitted to Council for consideration.
Agenda Item 5a
b
CITY OF IOWA CITY
HOMIN mans COMMISSION
Action Plan
January 2015 — December 2015
Adopted January 20, 2015
A goal setting session was held on October 2, 20141 at the Eastside Recycling
Environmental Education Center. The following Commissioners were in attendance and
participated at this meeting: Harry Olmstead (Chair), Andrea Cohen (Vice -Chair),
Shams Ghonelm, Paul Relish, Stella Hart, All Ahmed, Orville Townsend Sr., and Kim
Hanrahan. Also in attendance was Human Rights Coordinator Stefanle Bowers.
Commissioner Joe D. Coulter was unable to attend. What follows is the prioritization of
Initiatives identified at the goal setting session. The Initiatives will be reviewed by the
Commission at Its monthly meetings on a quarterly basis.
ON -GOING INITIATIVES
Human Rights Breakfast
Youth Awards.
Job Fair.
Collaboration with community organizations & groups.
Participation in community events.
Sponsor professional development programs.
Continue sub -committees.
Initiate more educational programs and outreach programs from trends reported In the
Annual Report or the Equity Report.
Increase participation of all Commissioners in Commission sponsored events, programs
and outreach.
..
mplelajfl
.
�.
Outreach to
NOW nun nanninen Orville Foster
Community
Community
Listening Townsend Sr, Community
Posts Stella Hart, Dialogue &
Edle Pierce- Community
THomas Engagement
Outreach to
present
Joe D. Coulter Paul Relish
Maintain
Council
Council
Proclamations
Positive
, Provide
Relationship
Notice of
with the
Upcoming
Council
programs &
Events
Educational
Events on
Stella Hart Harry
Community
Community
Events for the
Affordable,
Olmstead
Engagement,
Community
Universal, &
Education, &
Accessible
Outreach
Housing
Educational
presentations
Shams Orville
Awareness
Schools,
June 17, 2015
Presentations
on Who the
Ghonelm Townsend Sr.,
aboutthe
Community
tothe
Commission Is
AIIAhmed
Commission
Groups,
Community
and the Role
Access to
Service Clubs,
the
Resources
Faith
Commission
Communities
Plays In the
Community
Agenda Item 5aii
Slefanie Bowers
From:
Shams Ghoneim <shamsghoneim r@mchsi.com>
Sent:
Sunday, October 11, 2015 2:36 PM
To:
Stefanie Bowers
Subject:
Re: Subcommittee Reports for October Meeting Packet
Dear Stefanie;
Thank you for the reminder. Since I only met with you, all what I can share is what you and I have talked about
and I am including the summary below:
Minutes and summary: Attended by: Stefanie Bowers and Shams Ghoneim on October 7,2015
Topics and suggestions discussed:
- Holding a quarterly or twice a year event on barriers regarding- Housing,rent,loans, employment,
language, cultural, gender, age, marital status ,natural origin,etc. at a central locations such as City Hall or
downtown Recreation Center with near by ample parking.
- Eiher address barriers generally/broadly and share available local resources, or barriers specifically say for
families with children, role of race , ethnicity, religion and other protected groups. Barriers facing Refugees ,
other immigrants, and addressing needs of First time home owners. Such as what is the needed documentation
to apply for a loan? What to do if denied a loan/mortgage? What if a person does not have credit history,rent
history, collatoral/guarantee, or references when applying for rent? & how a work supervisor's recommendation
can best be utilized?
Format for such events could include:
1) Panel comprised of commissioners, UI, Housing fellowship, HRC staff, Realtors etc.
2) Including above constituency in the audience as well.
Stefanie shared the informative UI uses as resource for International students who do not possess Social
Security numbers, including new comers to the community that would address what to do if an individual does
not have SS #.
3) Increase participation by all Commissioners in educational outreach efforts -Know your Rights- on a one
to one basis or one Commissioner to a group of acquaintances or their own community i.e. Ahmed with
Sudanese community, Shams with Mosque community, Harry with disability Community, Orville with AA
community etc.
4) Civic engagement by commissioners to increase diversity of all commissions and city government
committees beyond racial diversity i.e. gender, ethnic,age etc. by encouraging others to run and to serve.
Shams Recommended that we can only realistically plan for 2 meetings in 2016, one in March and another in
September.
Thank you.
Shams
On Oct 9, 2015, at 8:13 AM, Stefanie Bowers wrote:
This is a friendly reminder that any subcommittee reports for the Commission meeting of October 20th will
need to be sent to me no later than Wednesday, October 14 by noon.
Education Programming Update (Hart, Olmstead)
Education Outreach Update (Ghoneim, Townsend, Ahmed)
Outreach to Council (Coulter, Retish,)
Community Outreach (Hanrahan, Pierce -Thomas, Townsend)
Making Iowa City a Human Rights Community (Olmstead, Coulter, Hanrahan)
Education (Retish, Olmstead, Hanrahan)
Building Communities (Townsend)
University of Iowa Center for Human Rights Board (Ghoneim, Olmstead)
Also, copies of Just Mercy can be returned to me at the October meeting date of the 20th. I will then return the
books to Susan Craig.
I still need books from Olmstead, Hart and Ahmed.
Enjoy the weekend!
Stefanie
Agenda Item 5 aiii
Community Questionnaire
Every individual has thoughts, ideas and experiences that can contribute to a better Iowa City, a
city that responds to the needs of its community members. This Community Questionnaire is an
attempt to identify concerns, challenges and thoughts people have about living in Iowa City.
Where do you currently live?
Are you aware of the Iowa City Human Rights Office? Have you used the office before?
Do you think that discrimination is an issue? If so, why do you think that?
Where do you think that discrimination happens?
What do you think the causes of discrimination are?
Thank you for helping us by completing this. Community Partnership Survey. We would like to
keep you up-to-date with opportunities for community involvement, particularly by inviting you
to community forums that may interest you. If you like to be notified of our events, please
provide your:
October Correspondence
Y qq
MEET FACE-TO-FACE and speak with HIRING MANAGERS & RECRUITERS
A Variety of Employers Attend the Job Fair Each Year.
Thursday, October 22
Eastdale Plaza 1700 S.1st Avenue • Iowa City
• Business Attire Suggested
Join us to meet with companies looking to hire . Bring Plenty ❑f Resu►rres
diverse talent at entry and professional levels.
• Free Parking
Hosted by The Eastdale Plaza Owners Association
For more information. call 356-5022 or email humanrights@iowa-city.org
SPoiasored by. Iowa City Human Rights Camrnission Goodwill of the Heartland. Iowa City Housing Authority. Iowa
Vocational Rehabilitation Services, Iowa Workforce UeVelvpment 16hn5011 CnunLy, Shelter Ffouse. and SUCCOSsful LIVfn.g
U)
i
b
LO
0
cq
r 1�
0
r
cd
tz
C
ro
U
Q
-tj
H
as
y
0
a
■ 0