Normal Human Relations Commission Meeting
February 21, 2006 5:15 PM
Normal City Hall
1 Call to Order:
Vice Chairperson Tim Harshbarger called the meeting to order at 5:25 pm.
- Present: Chairperson Evelyn Young, Vice-Chairperson Tim
Harshbarger, Commissioner Terry Brown, Commissioner Laurie Bergner,
Commissioner Mari McKeeth
- Absent: Commissioner Ramesh Chaudhari, ISU Representative
- Others Present: Staff: Jennifer Hanna, Jose Garibay an Wayne Karplus
2 Approval of Minutes from December 13, 2005 Meeting
Commissioner McKeeth stated that the adjournment section needed change to reflect the proper date. The date should be December 14, 2005 not September 20, 2005. Commissioners Terry Brown and Mari McKeeth moved and seconded to approve the amended minutes from the December 13, 2005 meeting. With no further discussion the minutes were approved by a unanimous voice vote.
3 Complaint Review
Staff informed the commission that there is 1 outstanding complaint on file. The complaint is as follows:
| 05E3YTD4 | Sexual harassment in employment | Staff is requesting dismissal of complaint later in the meeting. |
4 New Business
- Request for Dismissal of Complaint #05E3YTD4.
Staff informed the commission that she is requesting dismissal for this complaint due to no response from the complainant after a 30 dismissal notice was sent to his home requesting that he sign the conciliation agreement that all parties agreed to at the conciliation meeting. After some discussion Commissioner Laurie Bergner moved to dismiss complaint #05E3YTD4 due to no response to a 30 day notice. Commissioner Terry Brown seconded the notice. With no further discussion the motion was approved by a unanimous voice vote. - Review of King Luncheon
Commissioner Mari McKeeth stated that the music during dinner was too loud and the speaker was very good and the content of his speech was also good. Other commissioners stated that the room looked very nice and the giveaways were very well received. Staff informed the commissioners that when they participate in their committees and they make requests of the Interstate center they need to contact staff first to verify that there is money budgeted or if one of the cities could provide the needed service. - Youth Representative from ISU
Chairperson Evelyn Young discussed the lack of meeting attendance of the ISU youth representative. She also stated that she has received no return communication from the ISU SGA Vice President after attempts by her to contact him. She suggested that the commission move on to a different group that would have an interest in the commission. Vice-Chairperson Tim Harshbarger suggested that we should communicate with the SGA of the problem and the possibility that the SGA could lose their seat on the commission. Jennifer Hanna informed the commission that she has been in contact with Geoff Fruin about this in hopes that the Town Student Liaison committee could come up with possible solutions to this problem. Chairperson Evelyn Young said if the Town Student Liaison committee can’t help then she could write to other ISU organizations to see if they are interested in serving on the commission. - Calendar of Annual/Upcoming HRC Supported Events
Chairperson Young discussed commissioners going to local events and representing the commission at these events. She also asked the commissioners to share with everyone any upcoming events they know about that commissioners would be interested in attending.
Old Business
- Human Relations Commission Goals
Joe Garibay discussed where staff was with updating the Human Relations code revision that the commission requested staff look into in December and bringing it before them to review at the April retreat.
Concerns
- Commissioner Mari McKeeth informed the commission that the library is carrying the book “Driving While Black” again. She also informed the commission that the Library’s community bulletin board was being defaced. The organization PFLAG has a flyer posted and someone keeps defacing the flyer on a regular basis. She said the Library was looking into ways to prevent this from happening.
- Chairperson Evelyn Young announced that the Not in Our Town committee is meeting again to have a 10 year anniversary event on July 10th.
- Commissioner Terry Brown wants the commission to work on ways to reduce costs to the Pantagraph for the ads that are placed. Mari McKeeth stated she believes there are free ads for non-for-profit organizations through a grant program.
Adjournment
Commissioner Laurie Bergner moved to adjourn the September 20, 2005 meeting of the Normal Human Relations Commission at 6:30 PM. Commissioner Mari McKeeth seconded the motion. The motion passed by a unanimous voice vote.
Respectfully submitted
Jennifer Hanna
Human Resources Generalist