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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes Human Relations Commission - 02/03/1994 MINUTES OF THE HUMAN RELATIONS COMMISSION MEETING February 3, 1994 Commissioners Present Commissioners Absent Rev. Willie Davila Ms. Sandra Huhn Ms. Jimmie McCurn Ms. Brandy Shaw Rabbi Paul Joseph Dr. Tito Guerrero Ms. Grandis Lenken Mr. Clyde Bourke Staff Present Dr. Kate Haltom Jacquelyn Harrell Ms. Valerie Santos Adell Lucas Ms. Rosalie Beaty Henry Gorham Ms. Julia Coleman The regular monthly meeting was called to order at 5:00 p.m.by the Chair,Rev. Willie Davila. Roll call was taken and a quorum was present to conduct a legally constituted meeting. 4111, APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES It was moved, seconded and voted the Minutes of January 6, 1994 be approved as read. CHAIRPERSON'S COMMENTS Commissioner Davila reported on the Committee Chairs Meetings held on January 25, 1994. The Chairs discussed their roles,responsibilities and objectives. Rev. Davila reported Committee Chair will try to meet regularly. The Chair, welcomed Valerie Santos, newly appointed Youth Commissioner. Ms. Santos was introduced and gave an overview of her background. DIRECTOR'S REPORT Jacquelyn Harrell discussed the Human Relations Monthly Report. f HUMAN RELATIONS COMMISSION MINUTES �r PAGE 2 OLD BUSINESS Fair Housing Initiatives Proeram Henry Gorham, Human Relations staff member, reported that U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development sent out applications to eligible nonprofit organizations for funding to enhance education and prevention of housing discrimination. This program is called Fair Housing Initiatives. Mr. Gorham reported the minimum grant is $50,000. The Human Relations Commission will be applying for a two (2) year period. The grant will be focused on education and outreach. Mr. Gorham also stated he has gotten ideas from radio stations, T. V. and other media on producing a video in which commissioners and council members may appear, bill boards were also discussed. Jacquelyn Harrell stated there is no video in the State on Fair Housing or human relations commissions. This is something the Corpus Christi Human Relations Commission can do concerning education and outreach in fair housing. The Commission, City Council and other interested citizens could participate in the video. Mrs. Harrell also stated the Human Relations Commission will also apply for Community Development Block Grant funds to allow for increased activity for housing education and enforcement. Since no grant draft is available, Commissioner Davila said he was concerned about the deadline. Commissioner Davila stated at last meeting the Commission had given staff approval to proceed with the grant application. Commissioner McCum stated with the permission of the Commission she would look at the draft and give approval for the Commissioners before the application is finalized. Commissioner Beaty made a motion and it was seconded that the Fair Housing Committee approve the grant draft after completion rather than hold the application for full Commission scrutiny The motion passed. Commissioner McCum stated one thing missing is testing and we should go forward with testing. Community Development did the fair housing assessment, but testing was not included. Commissioner McCum also questioned who provides testing? Commissioner McCurn was told persons used for testing purposes must be bona fide and meet all requirements for units for sale,rent or lease. In addition,training must be provided. HUMAN RELATIONS COMMISSION MINUTES PAGE 3 Fair Housing Initiatives (continued) Jacquelyn Harrell stated at this time we don't have the funding, unless we get it from Community Development. If U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development approves our application for substantial equivalency then we can get funding for testing from U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The consensus was, at this time,the Commission will table testing until receipt of funding for that purpose. NEW BUSINESS Fair Housing Training - Rosalie Beaty Commissioner Beaty briefly reported on Fair Housing Training materials from the Fair Housing Summit. One thing she found of interest is pretesting to see how much is known about discrimination before starting training. Commissioner Beaty would like to go through the sample test and report back to the Commission in the March meeting. Committee Reports -none PUBLIC COMMENTS -2 minutes Ron Hudson talked about not receiving an acknowledgement to the letter he wrote. Commissioner Davila gave Mr. Hudson a copy of the letter mailed to him and told him if he wanted to discuss this at the next meeting, please arrange to be on the agenda. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 6 :00 p.m. Chair Date