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Home My WebLink About7 23 2024 HRCHuman Rights Commission July 23, 2024 Regular Meeting – 5:30 PM Emma J. Harvat Hall, City Hall Agenda: 1. Call the Meeting to Order and Roll Call 2. Reading of Native American Land Acknowledgement 3. Approval of the May 28, 2024, Meeting Minutes 4. Public Comment on Items Not on the Agenda. (Commentators shall address the Commission for No More than 5 minutes. Commissioners Shall Not Engage in Discussion with the Commentator or One Another Concerning Remarks) 5. Correspondence 6. Updates on Outreach and Engagement by the Police Department 7. Support for a Community Transportation Commission 8. Water Rights Informational Panel – Monday, July 29, 2024 9. Palestinian Children’s Relief Fund 10. Reschedule September Meeting Date 11. Human Rights Awards Ceremony – Wednesday, October 23, 2024 12. Schedule a Retreat Date to Revisit the Strategic Plan from 2022 13. Commission Committees Building Bridges (Paul Shantz, Kollasch, Pandya) Reciprocal Relationships (Lusala, Abdullahi, Pries) Breaking Bread (Dr. Liz, Qaduora) 14. Staff Announcements 15. Commissioner Announcements (Commissioners shall not engage in discussion with one another concerning said announcements) 16. Adjournment Individuals with disabilities are encouraged to attend all City of Iowa City-sponsored events. If you are a person with a disability who requires a reasonable accommodation in order to participate in these events, please contact the Office of Equity and Human Rights at 319-356-5022 or humanrights@iowa-city.org. 1 Draft Minutes Human Rights Commission May 28, 2024 Emma Harvat Hall Commissioners present: Roger Lusala, Jahnavi Pandya, Doug Kollasch, Mark Pries, Vianna Qaduora, Elizabeth Mendez Shannon, Kelsey Paul Shantz. Commissioners present via Zoom: Idriss Abdullahi. Commissioners absent: Sylvia Jons. Staff present: Stefanie Bowers. Recommendation to City Council: No. Meeting called to order: 5:32 PM. Native American Land Acknowledgement: Lusala read the Land Acknowledgement. Public comment of items not on the agenda: George Kwisnek spoke on the excess muffler noise that goes on in the downtown area and the lack of enforcement preventing such noise. Approval of meeting minutes of April 23, 2024: Pries moved; and Mendez Shannon seconded. Motion passed 8-0. Updates on Outreach and Engagement by the Police Department: Tre Hall provided the update on outreach and engagement. Including: a new intern (Perla Hernandez), involvement with houseless encampments and providing them resources through the Shelter House, the upcoming Safety Villages, the EMS Camp happening in July, a Kiwanis Noon club presentation, upcoming squad tours, and attending the upcoming Pride Parade. Support for a Community Transportation Commission: Jeremy Endsley of the Community Transportation Committee spoke on the community engagement the committee has been involved in to gain more information on the public transit system here in Iowa City. He stated that a commission being established is a first step towards a comprehensive regional transportation authority and that it would fill the gap. The current regional transportation planning organization oversees transit policy but does not allow for bus riders to be voting members. He also believes that the creation of the commission will lead to social and economic justice in mobility. Commissioner Paul Shantz requested more written details on how the commission plans to enhance diversity, equity, and inclusion through their efforts. Commissioner Pandya offered to lead to bring the committee’s proposal to the City Council. Paul Shantz offered further ideas and resources for the committee to consider. This project was assigned to the building bridges committee. Human Rights Awards: Staff asked for commissioners to provide a placeholder for the event, which will be held on Wednesday, October 23, 2024. Commission Committees’ Update: 2 Building Bridges (Paul Shantz, Kollasch, Pandya): Reported that the committee is working on items to recommend to City Council along with the newly added to bring to support for a transportation commission. Reciprocal Relationships (Lusala, Pries, Abdullahi): This committee will be reaching out to organizations who received funding from the FY2024 Racial Equity and Social Justice grant. Commissioner Abdullahi will be joining the committee. Breaking Bread (Dr. Liz, Qaduora) The committee proposed the idea of a listening tour that would allow them to communicate with individuals in the community to allow them to have a voice and speak about the commission’s mission. They would also offer this service to those who received the FY2024 Racial Equity and Social Justice grant to see how the commission can deepen its interaction with the organization and also how the commission can support organizations feeling like they have a voice at the table. Vendor Opportunities Friday, June 14, Juneteenth: Lusala, Pries, and Mendez Shannon. Saturday, June 15, Iowa City Pride: Paul Shantz and Kollasch. Announcements of Commissioners: Shannon Mendez shared her experience attending the open house for the Wright House of Fashion and encouraged those interested to check out what they have to offer. Lusala spoke about his experience visiting with the Congolese community of Iowa at the first ever Mother’s Conference that addressed challenges mothers face balancing work and family while being an immigrant. Lusala also shared the importance of sharing resources and inviting immigrant communities to events and meetings like the ones the commission is involved in. Pries shared his experience seeing the movie Civil War as well as the opera Fierce at Hancher which was written and by a University of Iowa graduate. The show touched on the topic of women defining themselves as opposed to societal expectations. Commissioner Pries shared he is no longer working with the Johnson County Heartsafe Community Campaign. Pries is on the Common Future Committee for the Rotary which will be involved in the Pride Parade. Pries is also part of the Consultation of Religious Communities which he hopes to address Christian nationalism through. Finally, Pries shared the efforts of Augusta Victoria Hospital and their work with/ for Palestinian refugees and wounded. Qaduora shared her feelings about the current state of Palestine as a Palestinian. Qaduora also spoke on the stereotypes of Arabs and Muslims and a recent screening of the documentary Reel Bad Arabs: How Hollywood Vilifies a People. The Mariam’s Girl Club got a plot from the Global Food Project and will be able to educate members about farming and connecting to earth. The Club also participated in the Coralville Asian Festival. Qaduora wrapped her comments with her involvement with the school district and the upcoming Anniversary of Nakba not being recognized in the district newsletter and the lack of diverse literature in the school libraries. 3 Paul Shantz in relation to the impact of the events in Palestine, mentioned that one of the things genocide scholars will talk about is how perpetrators use the projection of identity. And so, it's not really what you yourself hold as one of your identities necessarily but more about how a perpetrator of violence would like to weaponize a certain identity group and monolithically collect people within that category. And that people have whole lives who they were before, who they are at present, and who they hopefully will be in the future. None of us are monoliths. We all have multiple identities that we hold in any given point in time, and no one should be subject to that level of violence ever. Paul Shantz also shared about her experience doing a hike with the Bur Oak Land Trust, a private reserve. Pandya shared her involvement with Project Hope working with children and students with diverse background by holding a workshop on the topic of careers in mental health and diverse cultural ways of dealing with mental health. Abdullahi spoke about a shooting that occurred at the graduation ceremony of Theodore Roosevelt High School in Des Moines and the importance of raising awareness and finding solutions for these occurrences. Abdullahi also shared his company’s involvement in partnering with Multicultural Development Center of Iowa to create a collection space where people can bring plastic materials to be repurposed for them. Kollasch shared he will be attending the Gala for One Iowa in Des Moines. Kollasch also spoke about Iowa universities pulling back on DEI efforts and the complete removal of all DEI offices from the University of Northern Iowa and Iowa State University. Announcements of staff: Asked about the June meeting date and whether she would need to have the Human Rights Investigator staff it. The commission decided not to hold a June meeting. Adjourned: 6:48 PM. The meeting can be viewed at https://citychannel4.com/video.html?series=Local%20Government. Human Rights Commission ATTENDANCE RECORD YEAR 2024 (Meeting Date) NAME TERM EXP. 1/23 2/27 3/4 3/26 4/23 5/28 6/25 7/23 8/27 9/24 10/22 11/26 12/24 Jahnavi Pandya 2024 X X X X X X Sylvia Jons 2024 Z A A A A A Doug Kollasch 2024 X X X X X X Viana Qadoura 2025 X X X X X X Idriss Abdullahi 2025 - - - - X Z Mark Pries 2025 X A X X X X Roger Lusala 2026 X X X A X X Kelsey Paul Shantz 2026 X X X X Z X Liz Mendez-Shannon 2026 X X X A Z X KEY: X = Present A = Absent Z = Present via Zoom