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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes Human Relations Commission - 04/06/2000 /� MINUTES QUORUM MEETING ' ' ' HUMAN RELATIONS COMMISSION MEETING i ON April 6,2000 ,r.t\f � w Commissioners Present Commissioners Absent �I�a S�� � � 05 Ms.Anna Mercado-Flores Rev.Willie Davila nt flFME co cc, Mr.Daniel Carmona(Youth Commissioner) Ms.Lena Coleman Ms.Kelly Garza(Youth Commissioner) Mr.Oscar Hinojosa SS t'C z b i� Ms.JoAnn Kernick Rabbi Paul Joseph (Advisory) Dr.Sylvester Peterson Ms.Blaire Pittman(Youth Commissioner) Ms.Jeanette Stevens Ms.Laura Rios Ms.Toni Tamez Mr.Errol Summerlin - Ms.Sandra Terrell-Davis Ms.Olga Tamar "` Staff Present Dr.Helen Gurley Attorney Mr.Joseph Harney Reverend Davila,Chairperson,called the regular monthly meeting to order at approximately 5:10 p.m. It was determined that there was a quorum present,therefore the proceeded with the formally recognized meeting. ATTENDANCE The following Commissioners had excused absences:Reverend Willie Davila,Oscar Hinojosa,Rabbi Paul Joseph;Blaire Pittman,Laura Rios,Errol Summerlin,and Olga Tamar. Ms.Coleman had indicated her intention to attend,but was not present. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES The minutes from the March 2,2000 Commission Meeting were not approved at the meeting,lack of quorum. CHAIRPERSON'S REPORT—Rev.Willie Davila No report was provided at this time. Rev.Davila was not present. COMMISSIONERS/COMMITTEE REPORTS Housing Committee/Revision of City Ordinance—Commissioner Olga Tamar No report was provided at this time. Commissioner Tamar was not present. Mayor's Task Force for Persons with Disabilities—Position Vacancy Could not appoint a Commissioner to that position at this time,due to lack of quorum. NEW BUSINESS Mayor's Reception for Boards and Commissions—Mayor wants to have a meeting with all Boards and Commissions to extend a"Thank You". They have a small gift for those attending, May 8th, at the Bayfront Convention Center. An invitation will be sent. The time is from 5:30 p.m.—7:00 p.m. Charge Processing Booklets were distributed to all the Commissioners. Dr.Gurley reviewed the information,explaining that this is the process on how Claims of Discrimination are handled when they come into the office. We have more detail in our process,than EEOC presently uses. Dr.Gurley discussed the difference in A,B,C status of cases and prioritization of cases. Vice-Chair Flores asked whom are the booklets available to? Dr. Gurley indicated that this is for the 1 SCANNE, Commissioners,the City Department Heads and/or individuals who are from the community who raise question about the Commission's process. The Department could sell or give the Booklet to the public,as it is a public document. However, the Charge Processing Booklet is primarily for staff and the Human Relations Commission. 2000-2001 Budget Update—Dr.Gurley informed the Commission of the City's Budget cutbacks,same budget as last year, less$32,000. This will result in a loss of a position,as there are insufficient funds in other areas. Dr.Gurley had to look at which position would have the least detrimental impact to the Department. Presently,we had an Executive Secretary position that is vacant and if we have to reduce the budget,it would be in this area. Presently,the Office Aide I position is being funded from those monies. If our justification for retention of the position is denied,then we are looking at the loss of this position. Dr.Gurley indicated that there is a potential revenue loss of$25,000 in EEOC Contract opportunities. because of the loss of the staff member,as well as loss of the function level we are currently working at. Last year we had the same concern,but we were able to retain the necessary staff. Dr.Gurley has not heard back from the City Manager or Deputy City Manager at this point. If the RIF were to occur,then the person who is impacted would have the opportunity to be placed in another area,based on the seniority levels and qualifications of parties involved. Fair Housing 2000 Symposium—April 28`h. Would like as many of the Commissioners and public present as possible.This is for 12 County area,sponsored by COG. COG asked us to help them develop the program this year. Dr.Gurley reviewed the tentative program. There would be a panel sessions on fair and affordable housing concerns. We will discuss our plans on the Housing Assessment. Gary Lacefield,National Vice President for Fair Lending and Community Investment,will be the Luncheon Speaker. Persons who are involved in real estate are who this is focused on. Approximately 157 people in public entities have been invited. There is a cost for the lunch,individuals will need to pay themselves. Proclamation—Issued on March 28th by the Mayor and one signed by the Governor that is being sent,for National Fair Housing Month(April 2000). EEOC/FEPA Annual Training Conference—To be held in Miami,Florida on May 15-18,2000. If a Commissioner is. interested in attending, please contact Dr. Gurley, however, budget travel funds are limited. Dr. Peterson asked who normally represents the Chairman. Dr.Gurley indicated that in the past the Chair has gone occasionally,then it normally goes down the line of those expressing an interest and availability of funds. Rev.Davila has not indicated if he plans to attend. Vice-Chair Flores wasn't sure if her schedule would allow for it,but she will discuss it with Rev.Davila. Vice-Chair Flores announced a quorum. Went back to the top of the Agenda: Entertained a motion to approve the March 2,2000 minutes—moved and seconded. Questioned on some corrections. Dr. Gurley indicated the corrections were made;however,the wrong set of minutes was copied. Motion revised to accept minutes as submitted with noted corrections—passed. ADA Mayor's Task Force to appoint a Commissioner—No one indicated an interest at this time. They met once a month. Dr.Peterson indicated he would be willing to serve. OLD BUSINESS Dr.Gurley provided an update on the Disparity Study—recommendations were presented to the City Council. The Disparity Study Committee has until April 25`h to respond back to the Council. Presentation presented on January 25th,the City Council accepted our recommendations and had some questions. They also wanted to know the projected costs. Dr.Gurley is working on that information and a Plan proposal for their review. The City will not be doing a Mandatory Program at this time,Dr.Gurley's suggestion was to establish a Good Faith Effort Program,which we would monitor people and contracts. We also requested to monitor the number of complaints received from people in the public for a year,from the Mayor,City Manager or any City Department. She will provide a report later to the City Council. If there were a fear from the community to report this type of complaint for fear of loss of contracts,then we would have to present that concern to the Advisory Committee. The recommendations were broken out for various levels of implementation,and various time frames 2 to establish. Dr.Gurley will need to report to the City Council on a Quarterly basis. Vice-Chair Flores asked if anyone had come forward yet to complain about contracting or procurement services? Is the word being put out that it is confidential? Dr. Gurley indicated not at this time, she was approached afterwards by a couple of contractors from the community expressing concerns. Dr.Gurley intents to discuss this with the City Council when she returns to give her report. So far we have not been getting information from Contractors for fear of their being blackballed. Dr.Gurley's thoughts are the use of confidentiality,once it comes in as an investigation. While the investigation is going on,it can be confidential,but once it is complete,then it becomes a matter of public record. Housing Information Request—Several people requested it,and information was provided in the Commissioner's Packet. It was requested by Dr.Peterson and provided by Assistant City Manager Tom Utter. Dr.Peterson is still interested in addressing some of the needs for housing from individuals within CCISD. He was interested in knowing what he could do from his end to initiate some steps to assist those individuals with needs. He would like to work with someone who could explain the programs and discuss the steps they would need to take. Dr.Gurley referred him to Joann Dominguez in the Housing and Community Development Department. ADMINISTRATOR'S REPORT Monthly statistical report was provided to the Commissioners. Contact with 793 individuals,520 were complaining or had questions regarding employment. 33 housing complaints,but no charges taken;however,we have a Housing Complaint taken at the beginning of the year,where Dr.Gurley has held several meetings and discussions with the attorney,Charging Party,Respondent and the persons involved in the complaint. Dr.Gurley is on the verge of filing a charge against them. Before she did that,she wanted the Attorney General to look at the case,they now agree with me. It looks like the State of Texas,as well as HUD and the City of Corpus Christi will all be going in on the charge. Unfortunately,this charge deals with the issue of disability and we have tried to work with the company and explain it to them that it is imperative that they have proper parking for this individual,but they are refusing to do this. Because we are still in the process of investigating it we have not yet processed the charge,so she can't give the names of the involved parties. Public Accommodation,we had 4 concerns,and 236 other individuals asking questions. We took 23 charges, 12 to be handled by San Antonio and 11 will be handled internally. We closed 3 cases this past month,which puts us at approximately 46%of our contract. We have until September 30th to complete the contract. We have completed 7 additional cases,but we have to hold them for 15 days before they can be closed,which will put us at approximately 54%of our contract. We do feel we will be able to complete the contract by the end of July. Afterwards,we will not close any additional cases,without an upward modification in writing, because of recent correspondence from EEOC indicating that if its not in writing,we won't get paid. We will continue to work on the cases,but we won't turn them in,unless we have a contract with EEOC. $10,251.36 Benefits have been recovered for Charging Parties,which is representative of two mediations recently completed. We are 345 inquiries above last year,which tells us if we have to cut back we will have some problems. This is a serious concern,as our inquiries continue to increase. PUBLIC COMMENTS-Limited to two(2)Minutes Robert Gallegos,a disabled veteran:topic was on handicapped parking. He sees more and more abuse of handicapped parking,i.e.:Wal-Mart,K-Mart,HEB,even City Hall,etc. He doesn't know what can be done to address this. What can the Commission do? He can't give tickets,but if he could,he would. If someone would issue him tickets,he would. If he had some means of noting make,model,license number,etc.,he would. He is asking what can be done or how he could get tickets,or what. Vice-Chair Flores asked Dr.Gurley if there was a policy in place regarding this. Dr.Gurley indicated that the only policy was that each establishment should have so many designated handicapped parking spaces based on federal guideline standards. There are some cities throughout the United States that will issue tickets if someone has parked improperly. Houston is one of them. They also have a Citizen's Group that assists with this. We could look further into this and return next month with the information. Commissioner Kernick asked if the Mayor's Task Force would be another appropriate avenue in which to bring this up. Dr.Gurley indicated yes,however,basically they are involved in working for looking at buildings and facilities for compliance. The Human Relations Commission is responsible for looking at other issues brought forward. This is something we have discussed before,accessibility to places of public accommodation. If there is a problem with City Hall,then we can take care of that real fast. Mr.Gallegos raised another question,he went to Bealls at Port Ayers,but the ramp was very far away. He asked where the ramps and parking spaces were supposed to be? He asked for example, restaurants, how many spaces should be designated. Dr. Gurley explained that it is based on 3 established federal guidelines. Mr.Gallegos mentioned the concern over parking and entrance to City Hall. Dr.Gurley reviewed the City's handicapped parking locations and ramps. Mr.Gallegos asked if he could be given some tickets to issue. Vice-Chair Flores asked Dr.Gurley to look into a study on this and provide a report back to the Commission next month. Joseph Harney,the Legal Advisor for the Commission,indicated that Texas handles traffic citations as a criminal offense, not all states handle it in the same way. So a parking citation has to be issued by a peace officer or someone authorized by ordinance to give it out. For example,the Police Officers,Fire Department and the Officer at the Texas State Aquarium are authorized to issue them. It would take,as Dr. Gurley indicated the City of Houston has established, an ordinance authorizing a group to issue tickets based on that authority. If you are aware of the abuse by someone, go into the establishment and report it to management. They in turn can call the Police Department,who will send out a unit,or try to depending on demand at that time. It is an on-going problem and they do try to address it. Mr.Gallegos indicated that he often by the time he reports it to management,the offender leaves. He would like to have a means of reporting the make and model of car,license plate,date,location,etc. Mr.Harney asked Mr.Gallegos to report the matter to the proprietor of the establishment and let them handle it. Vice-Chair Flores indicated that the Commission is here to receive concerns of this nature from the community and report it to City Management. She would like to see the Commission receive information from the City of Houston on how they handle this issue and how their program works. She would like a report to be provided to the Commission. Commissioner Tamez asked if the Security Guards at various establishments could issue citations? Mr.Harney said no,generally not,it has to be someone with authority. Security personnel can make reports to the Police Department,but it needs to be an authorized person who issues the citation. The citations for this go through the Municipal Court,they have some sort of breakdown. They could provide it to us. Dr.Peterson commended Mr.Gallegos for coming forward with this problem. Overall we have a concern to improve the overall life of our citizens. Dr.Peterson expressed a concern that the Commission offer support of the Census 2000,and how the responses have a direct impact on our citizens and community needs. Motion made and seconded for meeting to adjourn. / /03/P d/i Vice-Chair Ann. Mercado-Flores Date Minut s Approved 4