HomeMy WebLinkAboutFebruary HRC Agenda and Packet 2023
Human Rights Commission
February 28, 2023
Formal Meeting – 5:30 PM
Emma J. Harvat Hall, City Hall
Agenda:
1. Call the meeting to order and roll call
2. Reading of Native American Land Acknowledgment
3. Approval of January 24, 2023, meeting minutes
4. Public comment on 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 or one
another concerning said items)
5. Racial Equity & Social Justice Grant (Link to submissions for 2023)
a. Recommendation & Vote
6. Introduction of the new Iowa City Police Sargeant Outreach and Engagement Supervisor
7. Commission Committee Overview, Assignments, Updates, Proclamations
a. Building Bridges
b. Reciprocal Relationships
c. Breaking Bread
8. Staff Announcements
9. Commissioner Announcements (Commissioners shall not engage in discussion with one another
concerning said announcements)
10. Adjournment
MEETING PACKET CONTENTS:
1. AGENDA: TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2023
2. NATIVE AMERICAN LAND ACKNOWLEDGMENT
4. DRAFT MINUTES: JANUARY 24, 2023
If you will need disability-related accommodations to participate in this meeting please contact Human
Rights Coordinator, 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
January 24, 2023
Helling Conference Room
Commissioners present: Sylvia Jons, Bijou Maliabo, Jahnavi Pandya, Roger Lusala, Ahmed Ismail, Doug
Kollasch, Badri Kuku, Kelsey Paul Shantz, Suyun Channon.
Staff present: Stefanie Bowers, Veronica May.
Recommendation to City Council: No.
Meeting called to order: 5:32 PM.
Native American Land Acknowledgement: Kollasch read the Land Acknowledgement.
Public comment of items not on the agenda: None.
Approval of meeting minutes of November 22, 2022: Paul Shantz noted some grammatical errors that
staff updated. Lusala moved, and Jons seconded. Motion passed 9-0.
Elections for Chair and Vice Chair for 2023: Maliabo nominated Lusala, Kollasch seconded. Lusala accepted
the nomination. Motion passed 9-0. Lusala nominated Jons, Paul Shantz seconded. Jons accepted the
nomination. Motion passed 9-0.
Correspondence
Letter from Indigenous Community Members of Iowa City: The commission wants to be part of the
solution and prevent incidents like this from reoccurring. Kollasch serves on the School District’s Equity
Committee and will follow up with them on the letter. Commissioners will actively seek to get information
from the authors as to how the School Board responded.
Letter from Coalition to Abolish Prison Slavery & Change U-Iowa English: Commissioners decided to take
it under advisement. The correspondence was received a few hours prior to the meeting time and as a
result, the commission has not had the opportunity to read it.
Racial Equity and Social Justice Grant: Lusala went over the history of the grant and the process for
evaluation.
Four commissioners have conflicts and will not be participating.
Kuku-Sudanese Center of Iowa City (member)
Ismail-Neighborhood Centers of Johnson County (on the board)
Pandya-United Action for Youth and IC Compassion (doing practicum and programming)
Maliabo-Center for Worker Justice (on the board)
Committee Updates:
Breaking Bread –Kollasch
Reciprocal Relationships – Lusala and Jons
Building Bridges – Maliabo and Paul Shantz
Lusala, Paul Shantz, and Kollasch went over the role of each committee. Staff noted that the facilitator for
the strategic plan will be reaching out to members newly appointed to provide the context of the plan and
the resulting committees. The commission will make appointments on the vacancies for the committees at
its February meeting date. In the meantime, Kuku, Ismail, Channon, and Pandya will send staff their
preferred committee appointment.
Per direction from Mayor Teague, the commission will invite members of a specific community to come to
accept proclamations with them at Council meetings. For example, for Black History Month, Lusala will
reach out to the Black Voices Project. Ismail and Pandya volunteered to accept the proclamation alongside
the Black Voices Project representatives.
Announcements of commissioners: Lusala accepted the proclamation for Martin Luther King Day for the
city and for Johnson County. Lusala also participated in the MLK march on January 16. Lusala, Jons, and
Channon attended the Lunar New Year celebration held at The Englert Theatre. Jons has begun the second
session of the Executive MBA program. Channon spoke on a Dragon & Lion Dance presented by the Iowa
City Area Chinese Association at the Iowa City Public Library held on January 23. Kollasch attended a
candlelight vigil for those who lost their lives in the LGBTQ nightclub shooting in November. Kollasch also
mentioned two bills currently being considered by the Iowa legislature, House Files 8 & 9, related to gay
and transgender youth. Kollasch attended Iowa’s Justice Summit & Disparities held in Ankeny in December.
Paul Shantz reminded commissioners that International Holocaust Remembrance Day is this Friday and
that the First Cities Summit of the Americas will be held in April in Denver. Maliabo spoke on one of the
world’s longest wars occurring in DR Congo and the haunting effect that the war has had not only on
persons still there but also on persons who have immigrated to the United States, specifically, to Iowa City
to relocate.
Announcements of staff: May highlighted the tour done by her with consumers of Caring Hands,
participating in the MLK march and celebration held on January 16, and the new 988 suicide & crisis
lifeline. She ended her comments by providing notice of upcoming EDI training for first responders. Bowers
asked commissioners who have not yet signed up for orientation to contact her to schedule a time and
provided the dates for the youth human rights commission awards, May 10, and the human rights awards
breakfast, October 25.
Adjourned: 8:05 PM.
The meeting can be viewed at https://citychannel4.com/video.html?series=Local%20Government.
Human Rights Commission
ATTENDANCE RECORD
YEAR 2023
(Meeting Date)
NAME
TERM
EXP.
1/24 2/28 3/28 4/25 5/23 6/27 7/25 8/22 9/26 10/24 11/28
Roger Lusala 2023 P
Bijou Maliabo 2023 P
Kelsey Paul Shantz 2023 P
Jahnavi Pandya 2024 P
Sylvia Jons 2024 P
Doug Kollasch 2024 P
Suyun Channon 2025 P
Ahmed Ismail 2025 P
Badri Kuku 2025 P
KEY: P = Present
A = Absent
R = Resigned