Human Rights Commission Minutes Ad Hoc Committee Meeting Planning for July 28, 2020 Work Session with City Council DATE: June 11, 2020 LOCATION: Virtual/Electronic Meeting *Please note, the summarized notes presented below are recorded in real time and are not concise quotes from the correlated speaker. Please review the posted audio recording for specific language. 1. WELCOME a. CALL TO ORDER i. Jeanette Abi-Nader (Ad Hoc Committee Chair) called the meeting to order at 6:00 pm. b. ROLL CALL i. Sue Lewis, Phoebe Brown, Lyndele von Schill, Shantell Bingham, Catherine Spear, Jeanette Abi-Nader, Rob Woodside, Ernest Chambers, Kathryn Laughon, Ann Smith (joined at 6:02 pm), and Andy Orban (joined at 6:09 pm). c. MISSION (recited by all): Act as a strong advocate to justice and equal opportunity by providing citywide leadership and guidance in the area of civil rights. 2. MATTERS BY THE PUBLIC a. PUBLIC COMMENT i. None. b. COMMISSION RESPONSE TO MATTERS BY THE PUBLIC i. None 3. WORK SESSION a. Check-ins i. If people want to give feedback for the Letter of support/Statement. Pheobe has been joining protest and offered a draft. ii. Working on supporting community members who have been discriminated against at distribution sites and encouraging them to go to OHR. iii. Catherine 1. Could help with statement to BLM. 2. Working on supporting her team and the broader community at UVA. 3. Working to ensure that an equity lens is included. 4. Working with new changes to Title XI. iv. Social justice and diving into issues of white supremacy and anti-racism. Doing the self-work and making sure they know what all this means. v. People have been showing up at protests and doing work in Richmond as well as elsewhere in the country. Black indigenous people of color have been hit hard and team is working to provide support for them. vi. Will be crucial for us to be involved when the statue work begins to happen. Ernest appreciates everyone that is protesting, and he is with them. vii. Engaging with people through work and supporting people in Southwood. Giving stimulus checks to those that need it. viii. Conversations on the phone and listening to others is big. 1. How do we support one another and keep moving on? ix. Mutual aid is providing $20,000 for people need support with medication co- pays. b. Develop HRC/City Council Joint Session Agenda Items & Roles: i. Commission/City Management Relationship 1. Define the critical role of the HRC and the mandate of the OHR 2. Consider a mandated protocol for check-ins and adjust a framework for follow-up. 3. Clarify CRB relationship with HRC a. HRC Police policy work on hold until relationship defined. 4. Clarify Office of Equity and Inclusion relationship to HRC a. Identify overlaps and potential for collaboration b. HRC should offer its help in defining relationship 5. Things to review: Need to look at goals of the meeting, and discuss mandate of office. 6. FEPA certification has not moved forward due to a lack of OHR staff. a. Allyson Davies willing to work on application process with OHR. ii. OHR Manager/HRC Director position 1. Robert and Andy met with Heather Hill about hiring for OHR Manager/Director. 2. Charlene left the position on Feb 24th. 3. City Manager is responsible for authorizing the hiring. 4. Mid-September is the recommended target hiring date, though this may not be attainable. a. 6 months after Charlene’s departure. 5. Commissioners discussed various amendments to the OHR Manager job description a. Suggested additional text that focused on thought leadership b. Experience with mediation c. Increasing the number of years’ experience required d. Commissioners would like to also compare the current OHR Manager job description with a comparable director-level job description iii. Review Policy Priorities/ HRC feedback for Council 1. Review documents that have been shared with Council 4. MATTERS BY THE PUBLIC a. PUBLIC COMMENT i. None. b. COMMISSION RESPONSE TO MATTERS BY THE PUBLIC i. None. 5. NEXT STEPS a. Shantell will forward the email with the invitation to the Council work sessio b. Jeanette will create an editable version of the OHR Manager job description on which collect suggested changes. i. Commissioners are encouraged to provide edits by Wednesday 6/17. c. Todd will provide a copy of the Director of Human Services job description for review. d. Shantell will draft a note to City Council regarding the joint work session. e. Catherine will draft a statement from the HRC regarding the current protests around police violence and race. Meeting Adjourned: 7:42 pm. Minutes Approved on June 18, 2020