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HomeMy WebLinkAbout05-21-2019 Human Rights CommissionFurl A01NA1 Human Rights Commission (HRC) Tuesday, May 21, 2019 5:30 P.M. City Hall, Helling Conference Room 410 E. Washington Street, Iowa City 1. Call Meeting to Order and Roll Call. 2. Approval of the April 16, 2019 minutes. 3. Public Comment of Items not on the Agenda. (Commentators shall address the Commission for no more than 5 minutes. Commissioners shall not engage in discussion with the public concerning said items). 4. Items to be discussed: a. Funding Request: World Refugee Day (June 15). b. Iowa City Pride Proclamation (June 4). c. Iowa City Pride Vendor (June 15). d. Juneteenth Proclamation (June 18). e. Suggestions for Human Rights Breakfast Keynote Speaker (October 23). f. Committees: Public Safety; Education; Community Outreach; Housing. g. Inclusive High School Teacher Award (June 28). h. Correspondence. 5. Updates/Reports: a. Youth Awards. b. Social Justice and Racial Equity Grant. 6. Staff/Commission Announcements. (Commissioners shall not engage in discussion with one another concerning said announcements). 7. Comments of Staff. 8. Adjournment. If you will need disability -related accommodations to participate in this meeting please contact the Equity Director, Stefanie Bowers, at 319-356-5022 or at stefanie-bowers@iowa-city.org. Early requests are strongly encouraged to allow sufficient time to meet your access needs. Draft Minutes Human Rights Commission April 16, 2019 Helling Conference Room, City Hall Members Present: Jeff Falk, Cathy McGinnis, Bijou Maliabo, Jessica Ferdig, Barbara Kutzko, Tahuanty Pena, Adil Adams, Noemi Ford, Jonathon Munoz. Others Present: Ellsworth Carman, Denise Brotherton, Jody Matherly. Staff Present: Stefanie Bowers. Recommendation to Council: No. Call to Order: The meeting was called to order at 5:30 PM. Approval of March 19, 2019 Meeting Minutes: Kutzko moved to approve the minutes; the motion was seconded by McGinnis. A vote was taken, and the motion passed 6-0. (Maliabo, Adams, Munoz not present). Funding Request for An Evening of Chinese Performing Arts: This is a funding request to offset the costs for the performing arts professionals and amateurs from the local Chinese community who will showcase their talents in performing arts, while providing the opportunity to share their culture with the diverse and inclusive Iowa City community. Munoz moved to approve $150.00, the cost of the food and drinks, McGinnis seconded. The motion passed 8-0 (Maliabo not present). To date, the Commission has supported community funding in the amount of $1,106.00 for fiscal year 2019. Library update by Director Elsworth Carman: the library is now translating its brochures into Arabic, Swahili, Spanish, French, and Simplified Chinese. The new waiver of fines for children and teen materials begins in June. Borrowers will receive notice after the item is two weeks past the due that states if the item is not returned it will be replaced at their cost. So even though fines are waived, a replacement fee will still be required if the item is not returned within a certain realm of time. Police Department update by Chief Matherly and Captain Brotherton: Over the last year crime is down in Iowa City; violent crime saw a slight rise. There is now parity on citations and on traffic stops in terms of minority contact. The department has over two hundred and twenty hours of training that was conducted in 2018, that is up from 1100 hours of trainings in past years. The Wetherby and Grant Wood Neighborhoods are where the police receive the most calls for youth related offenses, within the last year the number of calls have gone Draft Minutes Human Rights Commission April 16, 2019 Helling Conference Room, City Hall down. The number of referrals the police make to juvenile court services has also gone down. Community outreach has included afterschool programs and activities going on during the day and safety village. There are also two community officers. Outreach materials includes handbills on how to contact the police in Spanish, Swahili, Arabic, Chinese, and French. The handbill includes emergency and non -emergency contacts. The handbills will be distributed throughout the community. All officers are trained on crisis intervention some are even trainers. Strategic Plan and Committee Updates: There are four committees that assist in advancing the strategic plan. The four committees are Housing ('Falk, Adams, Pena); Public Safety ('McGinnis, Maliabo, Munoz); Education (Ferdig, Falk, Pena, Kutzko); and Community Outreach ('Adams, Falk, Munoz). Asterisks designates chairs of the committees. Housing committee: no report Public Safety: the brochure on bias based incidents is still being worked on. The committee will be meeting with representatives from the Iowa City Police Department, and the Sheriff's Office to discuss bias -based incidents. The Associate Dean of the University of Iowa will also be invited to this meeting. Education Committee: has established a charter, meeting date/time, and also set up a list of priorities primarily focusing on elementary aged youth. Community/Outreach Committee: no report Social Justice and Racial Equity Grant: Commissioners received the scheduled reports from the Iowa City Community School District, Center for Worker Justice, and the Shelter House updating their use on the grant funding from fiscal year 2018. Commissioners expressed concern about the District's small use of the funding provided to them. Staff will reach out to District representative and set up a future meeting to discuss why more of the funding has not been spent to date. On May 15 the Commission will hold a work session that allows feedback from the public on the grant process. All the groups who submitted applications for fiscal year 2019 will be invited to come and provide feedback as well as the general public. A news release will be sent to spread the word. If more time is needed for the Commission to discuss the grants May 23 at 5:30 will be held for that purpose. 2 Draft Minutes Human Rights Commission April 16, 2019 Helling Conference Room, City Hall Youth Awards: The event will be May 8 at The Englert. The Mayor will deliver brief remarks. Pena will deliver the welcome, Munoz the presentation, Ferdig will distribute the awards, and Kutzko will deliver the closing. Commissioners should plan on being at The Englert by 6. There are 45 recipients this year. The number includes the Youth Ally recipient. Reports of Commissioners: Kutzko attended the Black Voices meeting and they will be sponsoring a reception to support Black administrators recently hired by the School District on April 30. Adams celebrated the Sudan Revolution with other Sundanese in the community. Falk attended the School District's Equity Committee meeting. He also participated in an advocacy training sponsored by Physicians for Social Responsibility. The training taught participants how to advocate in a productive manner. Ferdig attended the Health Equity Summit sponsored by University of Iowa Public Health and every year it gets bigger and better. She and her husband also led a roofing seminar at Build Our Future (her and her husband own a roofing business together). The event was sponsored by ACE. There were 160 students in attendance. She also plans to attend the panel discussion on Restorative Justice being hosted by the School District at the Coralville Library. Ford is speaking at a June 9 fundraiser and panel discussion on the psychological trauma of immigrant children and families. It is sponsored by RAICES and being held at the North Liberty Recreation Center. Adjournment: Motion to adjourn at 7:15 PM. 3 Member Attendance Sheet Member Term Ex . 1/8 1/24 2119 3/19 4/16 5/21 6/18 7/16 8/20 9/17 10/15 11/19 12/10 Maliabo 1/2021 Present Present Present Present Present McGinnis 1/2021 Present Present Present Present Present Munoz 1/2021 Excused Present Present Present Present Kutzko 1/2020 Present Present Present Present Present Falk 1/2020 Present Present Present Present Present Pena 1/2020 Present Present Excused Present Present Adams 1/2022 Excused Present Present Present Present Ferdi 1/2022 Present Present Present Present Present Ford 1/2022 Present Excused I Present Excused I Present KEY: X = Present O = Absent O/E = Absent/Excused NM = No meeting --- = Not a Member May Agenda Packet Item 4a Cover Letter (required reading) Thank you for your interest in seeking sponsorship from the Iowa City Human Rights Commission. The Commission provides fund in to organizations and agencies to offset the costs of organizing, planning, and facilitating educational public forums or programs and as ivities that are designed toeliminate racial, religious, cultural, and other intergroup tensions, including but not limited to, sex, color, creed, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, marital status, age, and national origin. To process your request for sponsorship, we need you to take a few minutes to fill out this application form. Please note sponsorship requests are due by 5 p.m. on the second Mondayof each month. The Iowa City Human Rights Commission will review the request at their monthly meeting and staff will contact you to let you know whetherthe request has been approved. If you are awarded funding, you will be required to submit a full (one page) summary of funding impact, including but not limited to, number of persons involved in your project, anecdotal stories to share with the team about the event, frequency of the event, and otheressential information. If you have anyquestions aboutthe application process, please do not hesitate to contact Equity Director Stefanie Bowers at 319-356-5022 orStefanie-bowers@iowa-city.org. Please sign here to verify you have read the cover letter to this form. * 04O Application Date * 5/10/2019 Group/Organizaton Name* Refugee and Immigrant Association Contact person* Jim Olson Phone number* 3195120007 Email* jimolson921@gmail.com Date of activity/event/program * 6/15/2019 If your event occurs on multiple dates, list here Event location and address* 1499 Dubuque Street, North Liberty, Iowa Is the event wheelchair accessible?* r Yes f No Is the event accessible to individuals with visual impairments?* r Yes f No Describe the activity/eve nt/prog ram and how it contributes to Human Rights.* This is a community observance of World Refugee Day, and will honor 2019 refugee and immigrant high school graduates in Johnson and Linn counties. It will feature a speaker and affirm the contributions and achievements of refugee and immigrant youth. It will encourage further education and community engagement. A musical performance will showcase the cultural traditions of refugee and immigrant communities. Amount of funds requested. Attach an itemized budget (field below).* $ 300.00 Attach itemized budget.* RIA WRD 2019 Budget.docx List other fu nde rs below: JC Chapter, United Nations Association Refugee and Immigrant Association Several other funding requests pending 13.38KB Has this organization applied for anyother Cityof Iowa Cityfunding for this activity/eve nt/prog ram? O Yes 6 No If yes, what department were the funds requested through? How much funding was requested? Was this request granted? f•Yes • No Has the organization received anyfunding from the Cityof Iowa City in the last year?* r Yes * No If yes, what department were the funds requested through? HR Commision for Refugee and Immigrant Recognition Dinner How much funding was requested? $ 300.00 How will this activity/eve nt/prog ram be marketed? Flyers, refugee and immigrant churches and other organizations and networks; invitations to public officials, press release. Will sponsors be mentioned and/or logos be used in the marketing of the activity/event/program? r Yes f No Is the activity/eve nt/prog ram a fundraiser?* r Yes r No Income Donations and Sponsorships Expenses Rental of Venue Food* and Supplies Postage and Printing Mileage Gifts to graduates** Refugee and Immigrant Association World Refugee Day Observance June 15, 2019 Liberty High School $ 9,348.00 $ 548.00 2,000.00 180.00 120.00 6,500.00* Total Expenses: $ 9,348.00 * Most of food will be donated and prepared by members of the refugee and immigrant community. ** Contingent upon raising sufficient funds, we intend to give a computer to each graduate, calculated at $65 x 100 graduates = $6,500. Item 4c ) iCity F i JNNE II-15. 2019 Vendor Fair & Parade Registration The 49th Annual Iowa City Pride Fast Vendor Fair & Parade takes place noon to 10 p.m. Saturday„ June 15th, in downtown Iowa City. All proceeds from the Iowa City Pride Fast Vendor Fair & Parade go to fund the annual Iowa City Pride Fest and Parade, a week of special Pride events, and related Pride events held in tandem with other community organizations throughout the year. For best results and the best rate, you are encouraged to register for and participate in BOTH the Vendor Fair and Parade. All vendors and parade participants are also encouraged to consider a sponsorship, which provides free or discounted participation in the Vendor Fair & Parade, and many other ways we thank our sponsors. To inquire immediately about a sponsorship, download the Iowa City Pride Sponsor Kit here, or contact Christine Hawes at chris@iowacitypride.org. BASIC VENDOR FAIR INFORMATION • Each vendor fair booth is 10 feet by 10 feet and includes one table, plus your listing on our official Pride map in the Pride Guide. You are able to rent a second vendor fair booth area, chairs, and additional tables from Iowa City Pride if necessary. If you cannot afford to rent these items, please contact vendor fair coordinator Cheryl Weatherford at cheryl@iowacitypride.org. • All vendors and parade participants are also encouraged to consider a sponsorship, which provides free or discounted participation in the Vendor Fair & Parade, and many other ways we thank our sponsors. • All vendors are required to provide shade over their booth area, and also electrical access if you need it. If you do not have your own tent, you can rent one from Iowa City Pride, or we have limited tents available for donation to those who need them. Iowa City Pride • P.O. Box 2910, Iowa City, Iowa 52244 • IowaCityPride.org ANNUAL �TN�'ir d i JUUE 11-15. 2019 Is �f • FOOD VENDORS: All food vendors are required to provide their own tenting, and to ensure they have proper county licensing to serve food. Call Johnson County permitting at 319-356-5120 for more information. • Public water spigot access will be available for cleaning only, but not for drinking. • For questions about the Vendor Fair, please contact Vendor Fair Coordinator Cheryl Weatherford at chervl(-Wjowacitypride.org. BASIC PARADE INFORMATION • When you register for the parade, you are included in the parade line-up, announced twice during the parade itself, and listed in the Pride Guide as a parade participant. • If you are also part of the Vendor Fair, a reminder that Iowa City Pride will provide paid and volunteer security for the Vendor Fair during the parade. • For questions about the Parade, contact Parade Coordinator Tony Sivanthaphanith at tony@iowacitypride.org or 563-299-8652. FEES FOR BUSINESSES, NONPROFITS, AND FOOD VENDORS For businesses: • $110 if located outside of downtown Iowa City • $55 if located downtown For nonprofit/community groups: • $40 if located outside of downtown Iowa City • free if located downtown For food vendors: • $199 if located outside of downtown Iowa City • $99 if located downtown Iowa City Pride • P.O. Box 2910, Iowa City, Iowa 52244 • IowaCityPride.org ma City F JUNE 11-15. 2019 1�1 y j Vendor Fair & Parade Registration Vendor Name Contact Person/Title Mailing Address City Telephone State Zip Are you a nonprofit? (YIN) If Y, nonprofit EIN Please check the one that applies: I am a business I am a nonprofit / community group I am a food vendor. Are you located downtown? Yes No Provide a one- or two -sentence description of your business, nonprofit / community group. If you are a food vendor, please describe the food you serve. This information will be used to announce you during the Parade, and for your listing in the Pride Guide. Iowa City Pride • P.O. Box 2910, Iowa City, Iowa 52244 • IowaCityPride.org 99TNq NNUFC Ewa City Pride JUNE IF15. 2019 Please check if any of these apply to your vendor stall I will need an extra vendor fair spot (free for top four sponsor levels, $10 for Silver sponsors). _I will need an extra table (no charge) _ I will need two extra chairs (no charge) How many in your Parade group? Please check any that apply to your parade group: We will distribute novelty items during the parade. We will play recorded music. We will perform live music. We will carry a banner. We will feature bicycles or foot scooters. We will feature motorcycles or motorized scooters. We will feature cars or trucks. We will feature a float. Please provide your total due based on your answers provided in this form $ You are able to make your payment by check or credit card Check (to Iowa City Pride) _ Credit Card (we will contact you for details) Mail this form (and check if appl) to Iowa City Pride, P.O. Box 2910, Iowa City IA 52244. Authorization: By signing below, I, confirm I am duly authorized by_ enter this commitment to sponsor Iowa City Pride. Upon your acceptance of this sponsorship commitment form, this will become a binding contract for the donation indicated above, to be provided no later than May 31, 2019. Signature Date Iowa City Pride • P.O. Box 2910, Iowa City, Iowa 52244 • IowaCityPride.org HummRighN Item 4g From: City of Iowa City <CityoflowaCity@public.govdelivery.com> Sent: Friday, April 12, 2019 3:37 PM To: HumanRights Subject: Now accepting nominations for Inclusive High School Teacher Award p SHARE Having trouble viewing this email? View it as a Web page. City of IOWA CITY FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Date: 04/12/2019 Contact: Stefanie Bowers, Equity and Human Rights Director Phone: 319-356-5022 Now accepting nominations for Inclusive High School Teacher Award The Iowa City Equity and Human Rights Office will recognize area high school teachers for their inclusive teaching at an award ceremony to be held at 1:30 p.m. on Friday, June 28, 2019, at the Iowa City Public Library, Meeting Room A, 123 S. Linn Street. Students are asked to review the criteria and nominate their favorite inclusive high school teacher today at www.iowa-city.orq/Forms/VKaSK. Teachers at high schools within the Iowa City Community School District and Regina Catholic Education Center are eligible to be nominated. Nominations are due by 4:30 p.m. on Friday, May 17, 2019. Those without access to a computer may obtain a printed nomination farm by calling 319-356-5022 or stopping by the Human Rights Office during regular office hours. The office is on the third floor of City Hall at 410 E. Washington St. If you have questions, contact Kristin Watson at kristin-watsontg7iowa-city.org for more information. .: 4ll �• M Questions? -�yaa Contact Us C 111` Of Imm CITI` 4.1 N t >t0 CITY OF LITERATURE STAY CONNECTED: Nominate your teacher for an Inclusive High School Teaching Award! Nomination forms can be found online at icgov.org/Teacher or in your guidance office. Teachers within the Iowa City Community School District and at Regina are eligible. Selected teachers will receive an award from the City of Iowa City at a program and reception on June 28th. EOVWC7 are due by 4.'60 e.m. ov, Friday, May 0, 71019. I r � 0�.,• O ., ui. CITY OF Iowa cirr Questions? Office of Equity Call 319-356-5015 or email CITY OF IOWA CI ONFSCO CITY OF LITFIAILTYRF &Human Rights kristin-watson@iowa-city.org. i• Or May Correspondence Funding Impact Report Event: An Evening of Chinese Performing Arts Organizer: Iowa City Area Chinese Association Time: Monday, May 6, 2019, at 7:30 p.m. Location: Recital Hall, Voxman Music Building Number of performers: Over 60 Number of attendees: About 250 Number of volunteers: About 40 Event frequency: Annually Impact: An Evening of Chinese Performing Arts demonstrated the diversity and inclusion of the Iowa City area community, as its population body has grown ever more diverse over the past years. Performing arts professionals and amateurs from the local Chinese group take great pride in their culture and heritage. In addition to showcasing their talents in performing arts, this event was a chance for us to be better heard and represented in this community. Event attendees from different backgrounds, races, and religions had an opportunity to experience Chinese culture and arts, and learn more about the local Chinese group. The following documents were handed out during the meeting. Grant Access 2 Independence 5260 5266 Shelter House 10600 10600 Inside Out Reentry 7000 7000 Refugee and Immigrant Association 12000 12000 NCJC 2324 2324 Labor Center 15200 15200 Iowa Harm Reduction 10577 10577 U of I Behavior Clinic 11460 62961 74421 Refugee and Immigrant Association Recogniti 293 300 University of Iowa Lecture Series 350 Archibald Alexander PTO 143.59 250 Iowa Chinese Association 150 150 Iowa UNA Night of 1000 Dinners 250 250 University of Iowa Lecture Series 300 Black Voices Project 292.66 300 1129.25 1900 Social Justice and Racial Equity Overview for Grant Decision -Makers l V r k During the May 15, 2019 working session for the Iowa City Human Rights Commission, the subject of discussion was the allocation of funds for the Social Justice and Racial Equity (SJRE) Grant. During the working session, it became clear that the community stake -holders and the commissions, like the vast majority of people dealing with these issues, may have different ideas about the goals of the SJRE grant; or, at very least, have different ways of framing and articulating the goals of the grant and how best to reach those goals. Further, we were asked to try to define what "social justice" and "racial equity' means to us as commissions. I believe we may be following up on this request with each of us hying to draft a personal mission statement as to what those terms mean to us. However, this is no easy task. My task in this brief paper is to present at least a, hopefully, non -problematic definition of those terms I respect each and every commissioner, and the set of skills and experience that they bring to bear on their decisions. 1 believe that each of us has an earnest desire to good in our community. In what follows the hope is to provide some baseline "tools" to use when discussing these complex issues, so that agreements and disagreements between commissions are more easily discernable. In particular, I would like to point out how disagreements in grant decision -making may be based on different complex sets of intuitions and ideas that are almost never clear-cut. it. SIRE GRANT PURPOSE AND SCORING RUBRIC "The purpose of this funding is to encourage, empower and engage social justice and racial equity initiatives. Iowa City for -profit and non-profit organizations can apply for the grant to Rind programs, activities, initiatives or educational outreach that helps to eliminate inequities in the community. The SJRE grant has six priority service areas: education, building cormnunity, housing, criminal justice, health, and employment."' The scoring rubric, in the Proposal section which is worth up to 60 points, includes the following category: `'Program, service, or activity advances social justice or racial equity," 2 https://www icgov org/form/fvl9-social-iustice-and-racial-equity-grant-application ' http:/Iwww.iowa-city ore/weblink/0/edoc/1865753/HRC°/205%2015%2019 odf �,J` On its face, neither the purpose statement of the SJRE Grant nor the scoring rubric is helpful in defining the terms "social justice" and "racial equity," as those terms are themselves included and left undefined in both places. Further, the more particular priority service areas do not help narrow the field as to which projects deserve funding. First, the terms themselves are fairly broad, e.g. "building community." Second, there is no metric to choose one projector another based on the priority areas themselves, all other things being equal. EXAMPLE 1: ORGANIZATION A REQUESTS FUNDING THAT WILL AID 100 INDIVIDUALS WITH HOUSING. ORGANIZATION 6 REQUESTS FUNDING THAT WILL AID 100 INDIVIDUALS WITH EMPLOYMENT. In example 1, there are no guidelines to determine whether Organization A or Organization B should get funding within the purpose statement or scoring rubric. The decision as to which organization to give funding here thus would come from considerations outside of the rubric itself, e.g. how many other priority areas have been addressed with the current allocation of funds. However, I think it is more likely that a debate about which organization should receive funding would be based on the very concepts we were asked to define, i.e. `social justice' and "racial equity." So, for example, perhaps one commission believes that housing is a higgcr issue in Iowa City, and that other organizations are not addressing the issue appropriately, but that organizations are currently addressing the employment area. In other words, the argument would be that Organization A's project advances social justice and racial equity in our community to an extent that the other project would not. Thus, we are back where we started? What is "social justice"? What is' -racial equity?" III. WHAT IS SOCIAL JUSTICE? A consensus definition for "social justice" is hard to find. This is complicated by the fact that the tern has a different connotation depending on the domain of inquiry. For example, in political philosophy, it is almost impossible to find a stable meaning for "social justice." However, in other contexts, e.g. research into health equity, the definition of "social justice" may be less problematic. The term serves a different function depending on the domain of inquiry. For our purposes, I believe that it would be best to in some way define "social justice' based in the purpose of the Human Rights Commission itself. "There is hereby established the Iowa City human rights commission whose duties shall be to disseminate inforiation, educate the public on illegal discrimination and human rights, provide the enforcement necessary to further the goals of this title, and protect individuals from unfounded charges of discriminatory practices." (Ord. 03-4105, 12-16-2003; amd. Ord. 15-4650, 12-15- 2015). The purpose of the Iowa City Human Rights Code is to protect individuals of the Citv against discrimination cis de b7cd in this chapter. Moreover, this title provides for execution within the City of the policies of the Iowa Civil Rights Act of 1965, as amended, the Federal Civil Rights Acts, as amended, the preamble and part I (articles 1 - 7) of the "International Convention On the Elimination of AIL Forms of Racial Discrimination (1966)", as amended, and the promotion of cooperation among the City, State and Federal agencies which are charged, presently and in the future, with enforcing these Acts and instruments. (Ord. 03-4105, 12-16-2003; amd. Ord. 15-4650, 12-15-2015).3 Because of the structure of the Code, 1 propose that the idea of"discrimination" should be the key concept for defining the terms "social justice" and "racial equity." Thankfully, the City Code explicitly refers to the International Convention On the Elimination of All Fonns of Racial Discrimination (ICERD).r ICERD incorporates the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). Both documents describe human rights as universal rights that belong to each and every person by virtue of the "dignity and equality inherent in all human beings." (ICERD, preamble).' We can define "DISCRIMINATION" AS FOLLOWS: "THE UNEQUAL ALLOCATION OF GOODS, RESOURCES, AND SERVICES, AND THE LIMITATION OF ACCESS TO FULL PARTICIPATION IN SOCIETY BASED ON INDIVIDUAL MEMBERSHIP IN A PARTICULAR SOCIAL GROUP; REINFORCED BY LAW, POLICY, AND CULTURAL NORMS THAT ALLOW FOR DIFFERENTIAL TREATMENT ON THE BASIS OF IDENTITY." ICERD defines "racial discrimination' as "any distinction, exclusion, restriction or preference based on race, colour, descent, or national or ethnic origin which has the purpose or effect of nullifying or impairing the recognition, enjoyment or exercise, on an equal footing, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural or any other field of public life." (ICERD, Art. I (1)). 'https://www.sterlingcodifiers.com/codebook/"`index.php?book id=953 "https://www ohchr org/enlprofessionalinterest/pages/cerd aspx 5 It is beyond the scope of this paper to define "human rights," as that term itself has no consensus meaning. It is enough that we agree that they are universal and based on the inherent dignity of each human being, and that they at least demand a minimal concern from the international community. I https://ncci.ore/resources/social-justice-definitions Furthermore, discrimination is not merely one-sided, as unequal treatment usually implies that others receive preferential treatment. Those who receive preferential treatment in as system have "SOCIAL POWER," DEFINED AS: "ACCESS TO RESOURCES THAT ENHANCE ONE'S CHANCES OF GETTING WHAT ONE NEEDS IN ORDER TO LEAD A COMFORTABLE, PRODUCTIVE AND SAFE LIFE:' The National Conference for Community and Justice provides the following "equation" to think about discrimination and social power: (DISCRIMINATION +SOCIAL POWER = OPPRESSION) "OPPRESSION" BEING DEFINED AS "WHEN AN AGENT GROUP, WHETHER KNOWINGLY OR UNKNOWINGLY, ABUSES A TARGET GROUP. THIS PERVASIVE SYSTEM IS ROOTED HISTORICALLY AND MAINTAINED THROUGH INDIVIDUAL AND INSTITUTIONAL/SYSTEMATIC DISCRIMINATION, PERSONAL BIAS, BIGOTRY, AND SOCIAL PREJUDICE, RESULTING IN A CONDITION OF PRIVILEGE FOR THE AGENT GROUP AT THE EXPENSE OF THE TARGET GROUP."$ So, given the interaction between discrimination and social power, and the foundational role of discrimination in UDHR and ICERD, and think Bankston's comment on the term is pertinent: The tern social justice comes up frequently in circles concerned with political and economic policy. Although it is often ill defined, it generally rests on two overriding principles. First, social justice is viewed primarily as a matter of redistributing goods and resources to improve the situations of the disadvantaged. Second, this redistribution is not presented as a matter of compassion or national interest, but as a matter of the rights of the relatively disadvantaged to make claims on the rest of the society. In common usage, the term is rarely taken as expressing a debatable position, but as a statement of a fundamental axiom of value in political and economic life.' Put another way, social justice means minimalizing oppression as defined above, whether by reducing discrimination or by giving more social power to oppressed groups through a redistribution of goods and resources. Furthermore, the need for this redistribution stems on claims that the disadvantaged have by virtue of their "inherent dignity and equality" as humans. Social justice is a human rights issue. ' https://ncci.ore/resources/social-justice-definitions 9 https://ncci.org/resourceslsocial-iustice-definitions 'https://www.independent,org/odf/tirltir 15 02 01 bankston pdf At this point, it is important to note that "racial discrimination," although a social justice issue, is not the exhaustive concern of social justice_ For example, social justice would encompass economic justice and housingjusticc, regardless of race. IV. WHAT IS "RACIAL EQUITY"? The City of Seattle Racial Equity Toolkit provides the following definitions for "racial equity' and `'racial inequity: - RACIAL EQUITY: RACE CAN NO LONGER BE USED TO PREDICT LIFE OUTCOMES AND OUTCOMES FOR ALL GROUPS ARE IMPROVED. RACIAL INEQUITY: RACE CAN BE USED TO PREDICT LIFE OUTCOMES, E.G., DISPROPORTIONALITY IN EDUCATION (HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION RATES), JOBS (UNEMPLOYMENT RATE), CRIMINAL JUSTICE (ARREST AND INCARCERATION RATES), ETC." Equality and equity are different things. Equality is about sameness. However, due to historic and systemic oppression, treating people the same will not correct race inequity, as race will still be a pretty good indicator of socio-economic outcomes. Furthermore, it seems clear that racial equity is part of social justice more generally, and not a separate concern." Decreasing discrimination on account of race, and increasing the social power of those discriminated against based on race, through the redistribution of goods and resources, advances social justice and racial equity in particular. RECOMMENDATION: Because "racial equity" is included as its own term in the grant purpose statement and scoring rubric, and considering that racial equity is a sub -issue of social justice more broadly, perhaps our process of grant allocation should take that into account more explicitly. Here is an example where this might come up: EXAMPLE 2: ORGANIZATION A WANTS TO HELP 100 PEOPLE WITH HOUSING. STATISTICALLY, THOSE WHO WORK WITH THIS ORGANIZATION ARE 85% WHITE WHO ARE HOUSING INSECURE. ORGANIZATION B WANTS TO HELP 100 PEOPLE WITH HOUSING. STATISTICALLY, THOSE WHO WORK WITH THIS ORGANIZATION ARE 70% BLACK WHO ARE HOUSING INSECURE. All other things being equal, 1 think both proposals would be equally deserving as advancing social justice. So, if the grant were only the Social Justice grant, I do not think we have 1Ohttvs•ZZwww racialeauitvalliance Orelwo-content/uOloadsi20151021GARE Resource Guide odf 11 http:Ifracialeauitvtools oralelossarvAracial-equity an objective metric to decide between the two. However, if the term "racial equity" is doing work in the SJRE grant process, then I think that would favor awarding the grant to Organization B. So, I think our process should ensure that if we need to make decisions based on situations similar to Example 2, then we should favor the project that better addresses racial inequity. V. HARD CASES The problem is that not all cases will be like Example 2. In most cases, there will be competing tensions between proposal that require complex judgments and intuitions that may be hard to articulate. I present the following examples only to illustrate the problem of hard cases. EXAMPLE 3: ORGANIZATION A IS A NEW ORGANIZATION THAT WANTS TO HELP HOUSE 100 PEOPLE OF COLOR, AND THE ENTIRE BOARD CONSISTS OF POC. ORGANIZATION B 15 A WELL -ESTABLISHED ORGANIZATION THAT WANTS TO HELP HOUSE 300 PEOPLE, ONE THIRD OF WHOM ARE PEOPLE OF COLOR. THE BOARD DOES NOT CONSIST OF ANY POC. All other things being equal, which organization deserves funding? Support of Organization A likely will have other positive downstream effects, e.g. empowering the POC who serve on the board, etc. However, support of Organization B, who has a proven track record, is a better guarantee of desired results. So, how much do we weigh, in our own judgment, the fact that Organization A is new, that its Board is all POC? How much do we weigh the fact that Organization B will help more people? Along similar lines, consider the following: EXAMPLE 3A: ORGANIZATION A 15 A NEW ORGANIZATION THAT WANTS TO HELP HOUSE 100 PEOPLE OF COLOR, AND ENTIRE BOARD CONSISTS OF POC. ORGANIZATION B 15 A NEW ORGANIZATION THAT WANTS TO HELP HOUSE 100 PEOPLE OF COLOR. THE BOARD DOES NOT CONSIST OF ANY POC. To what extent should we care about the make-up of the Board? Should it count for anything that the Board has a similar identity to those to be served" EXAMPLE 4: ORGANIZATION A WANTS TO HELP IMPROVE HEALTH OUTCOMES FOR 50 PEOPLE, ALL OF WHOM ARE BLACK. ORGANIZATION B WANTS TO HELP IMPROVE HEALTH OUTCOMES FOR 50 PEOPLE, ALL OF WHO ARE LATINX. Should we prioritize providing funding to certain sub -classes of POC over others? If so, how do we make those decisions? Percentage of the population that the sub -class accounts for? EXAMPLE 5: ORGANIZATION A WANTS TO HELP IMPROVE HEALTH OUTCOMES FOR 50 PEOPLE, ALL OF WHOM ARE BLACK WOMEN. ORGANIZATION B WANTS TO HELP IMPROVE HEALTH OUTCOMES FOR 50 PEOPLE, ALL OF WHO ARE BLACK MEN. How and to what extent should we take into account intersectionality, i.e. where a single group of people suffer oppression in multiple dimensions? EXAMPLE 6: ORGANIZATION A WANTS TO HELP 100 POC WHO ARE ALL CITIZENS. ORGANIZATION B WANTS TO HELP 100 POC WHO ARE ALL NON -CITIZENS. Should it matter that one organization wants to help non -citizens in particular? Keep in mind that under 10ERD, states are explicitly permitted to discriminate on the basis of citizenship: "This Convention shall not apply to distinctions, exclusions, restrictions or preferences made by a State Party to this Convention between citizens and non -citizens." ICERD, Art 1(2). An unarticulated assumption of all these examples has been the utilitarian consideration that it is better to help more people. Should that matter'? Consider EXAMPLE 7: ORGANIZATION A WANTS TO HELP 5O WOMAN OF COLOR WHO ARE VICTIMS OF DOMESTIC ABUSE, AND REQUESTING 10K. ORGANIZATION B WANTS TO HELP 200 WOMEN, AND REQUESTING 15K. How do we compare the intersectional interests of proposal A with the "return on investment" (ROI) of proposal B, i.e. that more women are being helped per dollar of finding? VI. CONCLUSION I only wished to sketch out here briefly some operational definitions of social justice and racial equity. I don't think what was presented here provided any exhaustive substantive account of the meaning of those terms. I only urge the following key takeaways: discrimination as a concept is a way to understand both social justice and racial equity, and this concept is grounded in the human rights tradition and UDHR and ICERD; social justice involves the redistribution of goods and resources to disadvantaged groups (i.e. groups that have been systematically discriminated against); racial equity means that race can no longer be used to predict life outcomes; and racial equity is not racial equality. Lastly, I hope it became clear through the hard cases that grant decision -making is based on complex structures of beliefs and intuitions that are hard if not impossible to articulate. We are each guided by our life -experiences, political beliefe, differing conceptions of the good, etc. Rather than be discouraged by out, inability to articulate definitions of social justice and racial equity, and think we should be encouraged by the consensus of out - unarticulated beliefs and intuitions, as exhibited by our ability to come to grant making decisions in the first place. Part and parcel of `doing the work as a deliberative body is reckoning with the enormity of our task, and acknowledging what we do not know, and trying to learn from each other and the Iowa City community. Respectfully, Jonathon Munoz I.o otro no existe: tat es la fe racional, la incurable ereencia de la raz6n humana. Identidad = realidad. como at, a tin de cuentas, todo hubiera de ser, absoluta y necesariamente, uno y to mismo. Pero to otro no se deja climinar; subsiste, persists; es el hueso duro de roer en que la raz6n se deja los dientes. Abel Martin, con fe po€tica, no metros humana que la fe raeional, creia en to ono, on "La esencial Aeterogencidad del sea", como st dij6ramos on la incurable otredad que padoce Io uno. - ANTONIO MACHADO r CITY OF IOWA CITY MEMORANDUM CITY OF IOWA CITY Date: May 8, 2019 To: Human Rights Commission From: Stefanie Bowers, Human Rights Coordinator and Equity Director Re: Social Justice Racial Equity Grant Process FY2020 History/Background: The Human Rights Commission is holding a special work session on Wednesday; May 15 to discuss the Social Justice and Racial Grant {Grant) process for fiscal year 2020. The work session is being held to allow Commission members the opportunity to receive feedback from the public on the process and to allow Commission members the opportunity to discuss amongst tnernselves the process used to select projects to recommend to the City Council for funding. The Grant was established in FY17 and to date has given over $125,000 to local organizaticns to advance social justice and racial equity work. List of recipients is included in the agenda packet for the work session. This memorandum represents staff recommendations based on over 3 years of managing the Grant submissions, working with Grant recipients and working with the Human Rights Commission on the Grant. Recommendations. 1) Racial equity and sociaijustice should be defined. Defining tine terms will assist in better illustrating what types of projects would or would not fall u^der either or both. City Council in previous discussions on the grant has stated that it wants to make sLre the Commission is recommending funding for new projects and prcjects that assist those individuals or groups that have been marginalized; examples given were persons who are low-income, persons of color, veterans, veterans with disability, and LGBTQ persons.' However, this requirement never removed the quaiifier of the new project needing to fall under racial equity, social justice or both. Defining both will assist applicants and Commissioners and remove any ambiguity or confusion the terms prreviously may have caused. Racial Equity: projects or activities that close the gaps or attempt to close the gap so that race does not predict one's success In life by changing policies, Institutions, and structures in one of the six priority areas, employment, education, housing, building community, health, and criminal justice. Social Justice: projects or initiatives that provide or enhance equal rights, equal opportunity and equal treatment Examples include voters' rights, criminal justice, juvenile justice, immigration, and economic justice. See City Council Work Session of March 20, 2018. � % Y May 8, 2019 Page 2 2) Operational costs should be defined Defining and providing examples of operational cost should assist both applicants and Commissioners with what should and should not be included in a project's proposal. Operational Costs: expenses which are related to the operation of a business, or to the operation of a device, component, piece of equipment or facility. They are the cost of resources used by an organization just to maintain its existence. Examples Include but are not limited to: salaries or wages of personnel, advertising, raw materials, license or equivalent fees (such as Corporation yearly registration fees) imposed by a government, real estate expenses (like rent or lease payments), furniture and equipment, utilities (such as telephone service, Internet connectivity, etc.), maintenance of equipment, office supplies and consumables, and insurance premiums. 3) Projects should only be eligible for funding for one year and not consecutive years. When the grant was created by the City Council in fiscal year 2017 it was to provide foundational funding for local organizations to build capacity in racial equity and soda? justice work. This funding was not intended to be a continued source of funding for a project. Restricting a project to only one year of funding will not prohibit an crganization from applying for funding for other new projects just not the same project that has previously been funded. Prohibiting consecutive funding for a project should create diversity in projects that are funded to benefit the community. 4) Recipient of City Funding in the Past 5 Years: Currently the application for the Grant asks the applicant the following questions: Within the last five years, has the organization received any funding from the City of Iowa City? If so, for what purpose and how much? Within the last five years, has the organization received funding for this program, service or activity from a non -City of Iowa City source? If so, how much was received and what is the duration of the funding? Does the organization plan to apply for additional funding for this program, service or activity in fiscal year 2018 or fiscal year 2019? If so, how much is needed? Is the program, service, or activity dependent on receiving both the S9RE and additional funding? Commissioners should be required to factor into its evaluation of a project whether an organization has received City funding within the past five years for any project or program. Even if an organization Is proposing a new or different project. The Comr.^ission should also factor into its evaluator, of a project whether a non -City source is providing funding for the project and if so, how much. In past grant cycles some organizations that have been funded have received and continue to receive City funding from several dffe-ent sources to the disadvantage or more grass root organizations that don't have routine and/or continuous funding sources. 5) The Human Rights Commission should host a "Grant" Open House In the past, staff has conducted grant writing training that included informational sessions on the Grant. Moving forward, applicants may be better served by having a Q&A on the Grant with members of the Human Rights Commission who rank and decide what projects are recommended to City Council for funding consideration. Hosting an open house prior to the May 8, 2019 Page 3 Grant submission start date will increase awareness of the Grant, build relationships with community -based organizations, and allow for inquiries about the application process. 6) The ranking document used by the Human Rights Commissioner should state on it when published that "a high ranking does not guarantee a project will be recommended to City Council for funding". Making this explicitly clear on the published document may avoid expectations that a project will be recommended or the appearance that Commissioners have failed to follow their own process. 7) Public schools, colleges and universities should not be a primary applicant Like City departments, public colleges, universities and public schools receive money from federal, state and local tax collections. Such institutions should not compete with local non- profits for limited City funding. If a City department, public school, college or university have a project that they would like to initiate it should be submitted as a part of their annual budget process. This would not restrict a City departrrent, pubic school, college or university from being a non- primary applicant to a grant. This also would not prevent an organization associated or affiliated with a public school, college or university from applying as a primary applicant. For example, a student association or a parent teacher organization. 8) The Commission should continue to hold a grant orientation work session for its members prior to reviewing any submissions. The orientation should cover the history of the Grant, the purpose, and the requirements. At this meeting Commissioners would, like now, disclose any potential conflicts of interest of applicants that staff can then relay to the City Attorney for review. 91) To continue to have no set maximum or minimum amount of grant funding required for projects. Projects that require minimal funding could impact a wide range of persons in this community. Think of "Agency A" applying to fund a project designed to help non- native speakers of English Improve their verbal and written skills professionally, perscna!ly, and acadernica'?ly: A loom business has agreed to provide meeting space for the b weekly class at no cost to "Agency A"; and all instructors of the project are volunteers. The funding request is for $65C, the total cost to provide the grammar rules and writing composition ,Workbook to at! 75 oarticiDents, This vorkbock is a little 4ess than $9 per student and the 10-week course is at no charge to participants. Tc be able to assist 75 persons who are English language learners improve their English comprehension has benefits for them and their families, as well as this cammunity, it can further advance career opportunities, allow persons to become more engaged in the community, ailcw persons to better know and understand their rights, propel educational attainment, and create more bilingual speakers. In contrast, a project that would require maximum funding ($75,000) should be phenomenal and impact populations across all priority areas to be funded. Because the potential exists for such an occurrence, there should not be a ceiling placed on the amount that can be requested. Appiicants would be informed on the application itself and at the 'open, house" that requesting the maximum funding, or even very large funding amounts is not encouraged, as it is unlikely for the members of the Human Rights Commission to recommend to the City Council that all the funding be placed solely with one or just a few organizations. May 8, 2019 Page 4 10) To continue to make sure each funding round includes projects that support multiple priority areas and benefit a diverse group of community members. In making recommendations on funding, the Human Rights Commission should emphasize a diverse perspective so that funding is not all designated as assisting the same target populations or same priority areas. Funding recommendations should consider income, color, creed, disability, gender identity, marital status, national origin, race, religion, sex or sexual orientation. For example, if the Human Rights Commission receives 28 applications that aim to benefit a wide array of populations and cover multiple stated priority areas (education, building community, housing, criminal justice, health, and employment), then their recommendations should ensure that all funding is not unduly concentrated to a small number of targeted groups or priority areas. Having this requirement may, at times, require the Commission to recommend an organization for funding that did not rank at the highest level but overall that organization's application supports a population or area that is not represented in higher ranking applications 11) Funding for projects to an organization should be distributed out on a quarterly basis over the course of the grant cycle. It also should only be sent after a quarterly report has been submitted that demonstrates that the recipient is making progress towards the stated goals on the project. Currently full funding is provided at the start of the grant cycle and reports are required at 6- month intervals.n at least one project from FY19 the organization has not been able to meet the project goals. Creating a quarterly structure should a.lovr for Commission members to better evaluate and monitor the progress on projects.