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Home My WebLink AboutMinutes Human Relations Commission - 12/05/2002 SUMMARY MINUTES:QUORUM MEETING HUMAN RELATIONS COMMISSION MEETING December 5,2002 Commissioners-Present Commissioners-Absent Chairperson:Mr.Oscar Hinojosa, Sr. Vice Chair:Dr. Sylvester Peterson Ms.Laura Aguinaga Mr. Joey Maldonado Ms.Erica Alatorre Mr.Errol Summerlin Ms.Betty Black Dr. Gustavo R. Valadez Ortiz Dr. Stuart Elovitz Ms.Karleen Engel Mr.Richard"Dik"Johnson Ms. Crystal Lyons Ms. Amy Rhoads Ms.Ruth Silva Ms. Stephanie Saenz Ms.Nancy Vera Staff—Present HRC Legal Advisor-Present L.David Ramos Mr. Joseph Harney Wanese Taylor Butler June Shultz The Human Relations Commission held their Regular Monthly Meeting, on December 6, 2002 at 5:00 p.m., in City Hall, 1201 Leopard St., Council Chambers, Corpus Christi, Texas. This meeting was a quorum meeting. The following are summary minutes of the meeting. CALLED MEETING TO ORDER: Chairperson Hinojosa called the meeting to order. INTRODUCTION: None. ATTENDANCE: Roll Call: Mr. Hinojosa— P; Dr. Peterson— A; Ms. Lyons —P; Ms. Aguinaga—P; Ms. Black — P; Dr. Elovitz—P;Mr. Johnson—P;Mr.Maldonado—A;Dr. Valadez Ortiz—A(Called in advance-out of town at conference); Ms. Rhoads—P;Ms. Silva—P;Mr. Summerlin—A(Ill); Ms. Vera—P; Ms. Alatorre -P; Ms.Engel—P;and Ms. Saenz—P. Excused Absence:Discussion of last month's absences,reasons were provided by: Commissioner Rhoads- Business(out of town)-Motion made to excuse these absences by Dik Johnson;seconded by Dr. Elovitz- Vote-motion passed. Minutes: Approval of November 7th minutes -Motion made to accept the minutes as presented by Dik Johnson,seconded by Laura Aguinaga-Vote-motion passed. CHAIRPERSON'S REPORT:The Chair indicated that the City Manager provided a letter(in response to the Commission's letter regarding grant issues). The Chair read the letter aloud to the Commission. COMMITTEE REPORTS: Housing Subcommittee: Commissioner Johnson provided a brief report about several meetings that he held with individual Commissioners on the Housing Subcommittee. They discussed what they would like to focus on - Tenant's Rights and Education/Outreach. There was discussion on PSA's or airtime to share information on who to contact, where they could be reached, and misc. fair housing information. There Revised 1-27-03 +� j � was discussion of possibly using a distribution of information with utility bills. Also there was discussion of use of the Access Channel or TV stations to discuss tenant's rights and how to handle problems. Commissioner Black discussed coordination with Apartment Association and Board of Realtors. General discussion followed. Committee for Persons with Disabilities: Commissioner Lyons indicated that the Committee held their monthly meeting the day before. The CFPWD is continuing to work on the Non-Discrimination Ordinance. The draft isn't complete yet. They will be holding a special meeting next week, as there were significant changes and they want to see if some deleted items could be reincorporated back into the proposed ordinance. The City is the Transition Plan is moving along. They met at the Library and learned of the new Resource Assistive Technology Room with specialised equipment (3 stations and also satellite libraries)for multiple accessible opportunities for patrons. This was funded by a State grant that focused on under-served population (disabled community) and providing assistive technology in various forms. Additionally there was a presentation on accessible parking citations statistics,types of violations,need for education and discussion of some proposals: 1) Brochure; 2) Revisit the proposal of a Citizen Citation Issuance Program; and meeting with the Chief to discuss joint endeavors. General discussion ensued - Commissioner Johnson made a suggestion: team up and go out to see types of violations, if observed: 1) photograph and compile data on problems; 2)call non-emergency number and then CCPD will dispatch an officer to issue a citation. Education Sub-Committee: A meeting was held November 5th. They reviewed goals, objectives, mission statement,purpose, etc. Commissioner Vera distributed a handout of draft proposal for the Education Sub- Committee. She would like input before the next meeting. At next month's meeting, she will provide a final draft. Commissioner Vera reviewed the various proposals - focusing on Diversity Retreat, Ambassador Program, and Database for a Speaker's Bureau. Commissioner Lyons suggested the possibility of seeking a grant for audio-visual equipment. General discussion followed regarding the various proposals. The theme of the proposed Mission Statement is"Collaboration and Communication". OLD BUSINESS: A. Ordinance - Pending. A meeting has been scheduled with the Committee For Persons With Disabilities,City Staff and the Assistant City Manager(Margie Rose). B. EEOC Conference - Was held on Wednesday at the Omni Bayfront. It was very successful. Mr. Ramos served as a Speaker on a Panel Discussion. C. Commissioner Training - Pending. We still need to coordinate a convenient date with the new commissioners. It can be done one-on-one, but would prefer to offer it jointly, with other current Commissioners being present to also provide insight through some of their experience. D. HUD/Housing Statistical Data - Dr. Peterson had requested some statistical and background information on Housing issues within the local area. Initial information was provided, but we are continuing to research information on the Housing Studies done by San Antonio and Austin. E. Sample Business Card- samples distributed. Collected individual selections to determine a majority vote on which card format to use. Those Commissioners who wanted their addressed reflected on the card indicated so on the sample they turned in. F. Letter-Ms. Saenz-Draft letter was approved and circulated for signatures. G. Letter-Ms. Silva-Draft letter had some corrections noted. It will be revised with noted corrections. There was discussion about ensuring all correspondence be reviewed prior to release. NEW BUSINESS: Revised 1-27-03 '7 A. Subpoena Request - Ms. Butler and Mr. Harney presented a request for use of subpoena power regarding investigation of a case where a Respondent was not responding and failing to cooperate. There was general discussion about what would happen if the subpoena were issued and if the Respondent continued to refuse to comply. Commissioner Vera made a motion for issuance of a subpoena on behalf of the Commission, seconded by Commissioner Lyons -a vote was taken and the motion passed. B. Request to move the January Meeting date-There was discussion about moving the January Meeting date from the first Thursday in January (January 2nd) to the following week (January 9th). Commissioner Vera made a motion to request moving the meeting date to January 9th, seconded by Commissioner Elovitz - further general discussion - a vote was taken and the motion passed. The location is to be determined and will be noted on the Agenda. C. Commissioner Johnson requested in the future that all drafts be e-mailed to Commissioners in advance to allow time for review and suggestions/changes. Commissioner Rhoads, Commissioner Lyons and Commissioner Vera discussed how the correspondence and documents coming from the Commission are a reflection of the Commission; they want to ensure grammar, structure and content are correct. There are several Commissioners who do technical writing and would like to ensure that they have an opportunity to review the items. General discussion ensued. ADMINISTRATOR'S REPORT: Ms. Butler distributed the monthly report (November 2002). Human Relations is in the process of changing their Reporting Format. Ms. Butler reviewed the statistical data and there was general discussion about the report. AGENDA ITEMS/CONCERNS/PUBLIC COMMENTS:None. Motion to adjourn made by Commissioner Black, seconded by Commissioner Elovitz; vote — motion passed. Adjourned at 6:20 p.m. Minutes Approved By: - / /7/,3 Oscar Hmojosa, Sr.,CC Chairperson Date Revised 1-27-03