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Home My WebLink About8 26 2025 HRCIf you will need disability-related accommodations to participate in this program or event, please contact the Human Rights Office at humanrights@iowa-city.org or call 319-356- 5022. Early requests are strongly encouraged to allow sufficient time to meet your access needs. Human Rights Commission August 26, 2025 Emma J. Harvat Hall 410 E. Washington Street (City Hall) AGENDA: 1.Call to Order 2.Reading of the Native American Land Acknowledgment. 3.Approval of the Meeting Minutes of June 24, 2025. 4.Public Comment of Items not on the Agenda. Commentators shall address the commission for no more than five minutes. Commissioners shall not engage in discussion with the public concerning said items. 5.Correspondence. 6.Update from the Police Department’s Community Outreach. 7.Presentation on Transit and Development with a GIS Mapping Analysis from Yiru Wang. 8.African Festival (Saturday, October 4, 12-9). 9.CCAN-CON 2025 (Saturday, October 11, 11-5). 10.Indigenous Peoples’ Day (Sunday, October 12, 2-5:30). 11.Open Records and Open Meetings Law Update. 12.2025 Human Rights Awards Breakfast Update. 13.Community Dialogue Conversations Update. 14.GrantNet/Human Rights Grant Update. 15.Professional Development for Commission Members & Community Members. 16.Staff & Commission Member Updates. This item includes an opportunity for brief updates from staff and Commissioners. Commissioners shall not engage in discussion on updates. 1 Draft Minutes Human Rights Commission June 24, 2025 Emma J. Harvat Hall Commissioners Present: Doug Kollasch, Roger Lusala, Elizabeth Mendez-Shannon, Emily Harkin, Mark Pries, Viana Qadoura. Commissioners on Zoom: Kelsey Paul Shantz Commissioners Absent: Lubna Mohamed Staﬀ Present: Stefanie Bowers Meeting Called to Order: 5:30 PM Native American Land Acknowledgement: The Land Acknowledgement was read by Lusala. Approval of Meeting Minutes of May 27, 2025: Lusala Moved, Harkin Seconded. Motion passed 6-0. Public Comments of Items Not on the Agenda: None Recommendations to City Council: None Agenda Items: • Community Dialogue Conversations: No updates. • Community Coalition for Human Rights Grant Recipients: Mendez-Shannon updated commissioners that they are waiting for the new grants to be approved by City Council. In the meantime, they are reaching out to the grantees from FY 2with the goal to host a Meet & Greet with the grant recipients and commissioners. No dates have been set. Kollasch asked about potential locations to host the event. Mendez-Shannon said no location has been agreed on, but they want it to be an in-person event. Staﬀ recommended potential locations to host the Meet & Greet and Mendez-Shannon said she will follow up with staﬀ about the recommended locations. • Professional Development Opportunities for Community Members: Qadoura shared an idea she had discussed with staﬀ regarding community members earning a human rights consultant certiﬁcate. Qadoura shared that there are programs oﬀered online and suggested the commission use some of their budget to sponsor individuals looking to earn that certiﬁcate as a way to provide knowledge and tools to community members looking to be involved more in human rights initiatives throughout the community. Lusala shared that he thinks the eﬀort is a great idea and that the University oﬀers a similar program that allows for a certiﬁcate in human rights. Qadoura oﬀered to share the link of the website she found oﬀering a consultant course. 3 booth was able to partner with the mental health booth to help provide support and talk to those who needed it. Mendez-Shannon made a point to thank staﬀ for the behind the scenes work that went into tabling at Pride. • Harkin: shared her experience attending Pride and it being her ﬁrst Pride she was able to attend. Harkin spoke about the joy she experienced while attending and she was happy to represent the commission. • Kollasch: shared his experience attending Pride and the joy he experienced while being there. Kollasch also shared his experience attending World Pride in D.C. where he also attended a Human Rights Conference. His biggest take away from the event was a speaker who addressed the topic of allies and allyship and the need for those people to step up as accomplices, or people who are willing to ﬁght with the LGBTQ community and to do the work to protect their rights. • Lusala: shared his experience at Pride. He also spoke on the Juneteenth event and said it was a successful event with a great turnout. Lusala also shared there was a Juneteenth celebration Friday night in downtown with a good turnout and positive atmosphere. • Paul Shantz: addressed the political violence occurring in America, speciﬁcally noting the assignation of a Minnesota elected oﬃcial. She shared that there are resources to help protect those in public facing governmental roles if the commissioners know anyone who may be interested in those resources. Paul Shantz also noted it is a deliberate eﬀort to silence those working to protect human rights and not to be silent at this time. She also addressed the threats of authoritarianism and the threat of free fair democracy. Paul Shantz shared action items to work against these threats including interrupting the spreading of false narrative, disrupt spaces and misinformation as you see it happening, and to protect those doing this work. Paul Shantz also informed commissioners that several NGO’s (Non-Governmental Organizations) are being investigated by the Trump administration because of their work with migrant populations and to stay aware of these threats. She made a note of ending on a positive note that she will be visiting with family in the next couple of months. Adjourned: 6:08 PM. The meeting can be viewed at: https://www.youtube.com/@citychannel4/videos. 2 Lusala said it may be a useful course for future incoming commissioners as well. Mendez- Shannon agreed it was a good idea and spoke about the possibility of joining with other counties who oﬀer a similar service or have interest in the initiative. Pries brought up that an opportunity for continuing education for commissioners is the upcoming Ojima Virtual listening session being held on June 25. Paul Shantz agreed it is a great idea and shared she is aware of some human rights resources through LISTSERV that she would be happy to share if commissioners are looking to learn more. • Party in the Park: Qadoura and Pries are signed up to attend the July 24th Party in the Park at Willow Creek Park. Paul Shantz is signed up to attend the July 31st Party in the Park at Frauenholtz Miller Park. Kollasch shared there are additional opportunities to attend Party in the Park through August. Commissioners are encouraged to sign up if they are available on future dates. • Human Rights Grant: Staﬀ updated commissioners that City Council has not yet reviewed the grants and their next scheduled meeting is July 8th. Staﬀ & Commission Updates: • Staﬀ: Staﬀ reminded commissioners they have a vacancy on the commission and if they know somebody who would like to apply to encourage them to apply before the deadline. • Qadoura: shared the success of celebrating Eid al-Adha on June 8th. Qadoura shared it was the biggest turnout they have seen, and they partnered with the police and ﬁre departments as well as artists for the event. There were over 500 people in attendance. Qadoura also shared the Coralville Food Pantry is working with local partners to implement a Healthy Kids Iowa distribution for Johnson County households, starting Wednesday June 25. Qadoura made a point to thank Mayor Bruce Teague and Council Member Sean Harmsen for attending the Eid al- Adha event, sharing their support makes a diﬀerence and it is the ﬁrst time that has been done. • Pries: shared that after the commission’s last meeting, he went to Dream City’s town meeting. The event invited Representatives Charles Grassley, Joni Ernst, and Marionette Miller-Meeks. There were 11 speakers at the event who spoke about schools, immigrations, poverty, etc. Pries also shared that Compeer is having event on October 3rd at 7:00 PM at St. Andrews Presbyterian Church. • Mendez-Shannon: shared her experience tabling at Pride. She noted there was a sense of sadness she could sense from the youth in attendance. Mendez-Shannon shared that their Human Rights Commission ATTENDANCE RECORD YEAR 2024/2025 (Meeting Date) NAME TERM EXP. 3/4 3/26 4/23 5/28 7/23 8/27 9/24 11/26 12/12 1/28 2/25 4/1 4/22 5/13 5/27 6/24 Jahnavi Pandya 2024 X X X X X X A A - - - - - - _ _ Emily Harkin 2027 - - - - - - - P - P P X P Z A P Doug Kollasch 2027 X X X X Z X X P - P P X P Z P P Viana Qadoura 2025 X X X X X X X P - A A X P P P P Idriss Abdullahi 2025 - - X Z X Z A P - P A A Z - R R Mark Pries 2025 X X X X X X X P - A P X P P P P Roger Lusala 2026 X A X X X X X P - P P A A P P Kelsey Paul Shantz 2026 X X Z X X A X P - P A X P P P Z Liz Mendez-Shannon 2026 X A Z X X A X A - P P X A A P P Lubna Mohamed 2027 - - - - - - - - - Z A Z Z A A A KEY: X = Present A = Absent Z = Present via Zoom Correspondence ** This email originated outside of the City of Iowa City email system. Please take extra care openingany links or attachments. ** This message is from an external sender. Hello Fellow Organizers and Advocates! We're excited to share that CCAN-Con 2025 will take place on Saturday, October 11 indowntown Iowa City, once again alongside the Iowa City Book Festival — and we’d lovefor you to be part of it! CCAN-Con is a community-powered gathering that facilitates connection and action. Youand your organization are invited to participate in whatever ways work best for you. You could: Table and share your work or resourcesLead a workshop, training, teach-in, or interactive activityPerform a spoken word piece, short play, song, set, or demonstrationFacilitate a community conversationHost a kids’ activity or a wellness sessionBring something bold, joyful, or rebellious that connects to community power andbuilding a better world for all Tabling and performances will run from 11 AM to 5 PM on the Iowa City Pedestrian Mall,with two indoor rooms at the Iowa City Library reserved for presentations, workshops, andhands-on sessions. If you’re interested in joining — or even just curious — reply to this email or fill out thisquick form to let us know what you’d like to bring to the space. Please also feel free to forward this along to anyone you think might want to take part. We’reaiming for a mix of grassroots, mutual aid, direct action, civil rights, and service groups- andeverything in between*. Let’s make this the best year's CCAN-Con the best one yet, together. *While we welcome civic engagement opportunities such as voter registration, advocacy, and local government boards, we cannot provide a tabling, speaking, or other platform for a political party or candidate campaign at this event. Thank You, Mandi Remington (she/her) | Founder, Corridor Community Action Network - Sign up foremailsIowa City, Iowa, USACell | +1 (319) 677-1153 Agenda Item # 9 From:Stefanie Bowers To:Stefanie Bowers Subject:Open Meetings Training Requirement Date:Friday, July 18, 2025 5:01:14 PM Commissioners, Please see the email below from the City Attorney’s Office. Let me know if you have any questions. Stefanie From: Sue Dulek <SDulek@iowa-city.org> Sent: Friday, July 18, 2025 2:48 PM Subject: Open Meetings Training To all Iowa City Board and Commission Members: This year the Iowa Legislature passed H.F. 706 that requires all Board and Commission members appointed after July 1 to complete a training on Iowa’s Open Meetings Law (Chapter 21 of the Iowa Code) no later than 90 days after they assume their responsibilities. If a member does not complete the training as required, andfails to complete the training within an additional 60 days, they face significant financial penalties. The City Council intends to require all Board and Commission members, not just newly appointed members, to complete a training. The only approved trainings at this point are conducted by the Iowa Public Information Board. Below are dates and times of upcoming trainings. You can register for the trainings beginning on the dates listed. Please note there is a separate link for each training. August 26. 5:00 pm-6:30 pm. Registration opens July 25 at 5:00 am. https://ipib.iowa.gov/events/ipib-training-newly-elected-and-appointed-officials- august-26 September 10. Noon-1:30 pm. Registration opens August 9 at 12:00 am. https://ipib.iowa.gov/events/ipib-training-newly-elected-and-appointed-officials- september-10-2025 September 24. 5:00 pm-6:30 pm. Registration opens August 23 at 5:00 am. https://ipib.iowa.gov/events/ipib-training-newly-elected-and-appointed-officials- september-24-2025 Agenda Item # 11 The new law requires the Iowa Public Information Board provide you with a certificate of completeness upon completing the course. You should forward a copy of the certificate to your staff contact (Stefanie Bowers). I will be sending out periodic emails with updates on training sessions as they are scheduled. From:Stefanie Bowers To:Stefanie Bowers Subject:Invitation to Inaugural GrantNet Convening – RSVP by August 1 Date:Thursday, July 17, 2025 10:21:12 AM Greetings, GrantNet was recently established by the Iowa City Human Rights Commission to connect recent recipients of the Human Rights Grant (formerly known as the RESJ Grant) with the Commission and with one another. This gathering is only for organizations that were awarded funding in 2024 or 2025. To ensure space and meaningful participation, we ask that each organization designate only one representative to attend—ideally a director, coordinator, or staff member directly involved in the funded work. This convening offers an opportunity to build relationships, share insights, and strengthen our collective impact in advancing human rights. Event Details: Wednesday, August 6, 2025 12:00 – 1:30 PM Environmental Educational Center East Side Recycling Center 2401 Scott Blvd. SE, Iowa City A lunch will be provided At this first convening, we’ll connect, share impact, and explore how we can amplify our efforts. We’ll also begin envisioning a coalition to support residents facing barriers to justice and opportunity. Your leadership is essential as we plant the seeds for deeper collaboration and meaningful change. Agenda: 12:00 PM – Welcome & introductions (15 min) Purpose of the gathering (10 min) Grantee story highlight (10 min) Group discussion: shared goals, challenges, and collaboration ideas (25 min) Agenda Item #14 Identifying shared mission and next steps (15 min) Logistics & communication (10 min) Reflections and closing (5 min) Please RSVP by Friday, August 1 using the link below: RSVP Link We hope you’ll join us for this important conversation. Stefanie Bowers Human Rights Coordinator