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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes 8.20.18 draftCITY OF FALCON HEIGHTS Regular Meeting of the Falcon Heights - Community Engagement Commission City Hall 2077 West Larpenteur Avenue AGENDA August 20, 2018 at 7:00 P.M. A. CALL TO ORDER: B. ROLL CALL: Reider _X__ May __X____ Kohn __X____ Johnson _X__ Larrabee _X__ Ali______ COUNCIL LIAISON Gustafson __X___ STAFF PRESENT: Sandvik __X__ Lor__X__ • CEC would like to welcome new commissioner Julia Stegman. She has excellent experience in community events and outreach and currently works at Hope Church in Hope Community Church. Julia is new to Falcon Heights and recently participated in Night to Unite. She was supposed to come to today’s meeting; however, she was not feeling well today. Julia will be appoint at the September City Council meeting. C. Approval of Minutes: March 19, 2018 Commissioner Kohn Moved, Approved 5-0 June 18, 2018 • Commission Member Larrabee was present at CEC meeting in June 18, 2018 and Commission Member Ali was absent. Commissioner Johnson Moved, Approved 5-0 D. DISCUSSION 1. Human Right Day Event – December 10th, 2018 a) Possible Topics – Food Insecurity, Education Gap, Discrimination in Housing, Immigration, other suggestions from Commissioners. • The newsletter is in its final phase and will be mail out soon. • Staff was able to attend the Minnesota Human Rights Commission Annual Summit. Staff was able to participate in different panels and connect with experts in the field of Discrimination in housing, Immigration, and other systemic discrimination. • Staffs put together a few ideas, and it was noted last week's email Staff welcomes other suggestions from commissioners. We would need to have Human rights Day to be finalized by October’s meeting with either movie or speaker presentations. Staff met with Denise Young, the Executive Director at the Bell Museum and they seemed interested to partner with the event. The only issue is the parking lot space and fees. Another location is to do it again at the City Hall. According to Task Force recommendations, it advised for the City to connect and partner with community organizations such as Science Museum and Minnesota Historical Society; therefore, the Bell Museum aligns with the recommendation, and it would be great to have it there. • Topics: • Immigration: John Keller, Executive Director of the Immigration Law Center presented at the 2018 HRC Summit. John spoke about Immigration discrimination and why it matters to educate Minnesota communities and professionals. • Food Security: The Bell Museum mentioned this topic because of Falcon Heights’ agriculture land, Good Acre, and Gibbs Farm. Executive Director indicated that hunger and nutrition is an urban, suburban and rural problem. It would be a great topic to educate the community. • Education Gap: Minnesota continues to struggle and has the most drastic measures in education gap; such as academic performance and equal education. Common gaps are based on race, ethnicity, socio-economic status, gender, and disability. • Discrimination in Housing: Anne Smetak, Senior Attorney at Minnesota Housing Finance Agency. Anne spoke about systemic discrimination though housing at the MN HRC Summit. The agency and Governor Dayton helped formed a Task Force on Housing. • Great topics to present at the HRD on December 10th but can we get the speakers from the HRC Summit event or someone we know who is an expert in the field. Staff mentioned that Human Rights advocates are interested in reaching out to communities about human rights topics. An example can be when MN Human Rights Commissioner Kevin Lindsey presented at one of Falcon Heights’ HRD event. The event could’ve gotten someone from the same department, but the commissioner decided to do the presentation. Time and date play a prominent role. • Commissioners expressed to have it at the Bell Museum because it is a great way to know the community and gave a consent to pick Discrimination in Housing as the main topic. It is a topic that people of all ages can relate to such as rent, buying, and resources that residents don’t have access. Falcon Heights seems to not show data on discrimination in housing, but it does not hurt to educate. Chair Commissioner Reider would like to have Alice Hausman as a speaker who supports affordable housing. In addition to affordable housing, the TIES building has met with a lot of housing developers. Staff and Council Liaison spoke that some developers want to turn it to affordable housing and the Planning Commission wants the lot by the Good Acre to turn in to a senior house with 65 units. Adding on, during one of the Planning Commission meetings, U of M students expressed to have more affordable housing in Falcon Heights, so it is closer to campus, public transportations and grocery stores. • Staff and commissioners will research about Discrimination in Housing and will bring the information to October’s meeting. 2. Update on Task Force Recommendation List (provided as addendum) • Staff discussed the Task Force Recommendation list in June and wanted it to be a reminder about ongoing recommendations, a document to help us to have, what kind of community we want Falcon Heights to be, and a way to share our successes. • Ice Cream Social and Hot Dog with a Deputy is part of the Task Force recommendation by sponsoring events within the community to foster inclusion. • Commissioners suggest having a table next year to provide engagement. The table can provide a list of Task For recommendations and talk about it to people, so they know what the city is doing, games and treats to engage more of the young crowd, a box where people can put in their contact information if they want to volunteer, and a list of events that CEC holds throughout the year. • Chair Commissioner Reider likes the idea and wants Commission Member Larrabee to lead the project and team up with other members. She would also like to thank Ramsey County Dispatchers, RSCO, and FHFDs’ presences at the event. RCSO showed a lot of engagement with families, games and answering questions. Council Liaison Gustafson is happy to hear the compliments and glad to have RCSO at the Ice Cream Social and Hot Dog with a Deputy. It was also great to see residents from other cities (St. Paul, Roseville, Shoreview, White Bear Lake, and Maplewood) to attend the event and hear about their Ice Cream Social event. • Hope that next year will be another good turn out with numbers of attendees and weather so that we don’t have to reschedule it on Election Day. 3. Updating of Neighborhood Liaison Packets – Commissioners • There is a lot of history and would like for it to be short and straightforward. Something easy to follow and read. It is nice to know why the Neighborhood Liaison Packet was created but does not need to know year after year. It is better to tackle the packet little by little instead of doing everything at once. • Chair Commissioner Reider would like to everyone to review the packet and come up with a proposal and bring it to the next meeting. • Staff reminded that the September meeting is canceled so it gives time to review the packet and create an outline for Staff to work on. • Council Liaison Gustafson reminded everyone that the City does have $200 left from the St. Paul Foundation Grant and would like for CEC to spend the grant to produce packets. The grant needs to be used by October 31st and suggest that if CEC can come up with a proposal in September and send it to staff in October to work on it, then the packet can be printed on time. 4. Communication Updates – Commissioners • How City would like to communicate to residents • Need to find ways to take out dead links and remove old documents • Website is difficult to navigate and will need to find solution • Weekly newsletter is hard to read and will need to brainstorm ways to make it better • Commission Member Johnson would like the website to have a resident inputs, neighborhood happenings, and community events sections to help residents know more about what is going on in the City. • Would like everyone to look at the website and bring ideas, suggestions or comments to the next meeting. 5. Youth Outreach Opportunities • Staff was able to connect with someone from the Minneapolis district Paul Klym a Career Development Coordinator. Unfortunately, Minneapolis school programs are only offered to students in that area. He was able to redirect staff to connect with Roseville’s Career Development Coordinator Heidi Sneltjes. Unfortunately, school is out, and the office will resume in September and Staff will reach out to Heidi Sneltjes to partnerships. • The Carl D Perkins handout are programs that are offered in Roseville Area district and Roseville High School is authorized to offer Career and Technical Education Programs as long as they have a teacher with the appropriate license. • In the last meeting, the list staff provided was long; therefore, decided to focus on Roseville only. The handout with Roseville Area High School and Local Nonprofit Organizations Youth Programs are resources for students to attended and meet. Staff was able to find a College Possible program at Roseville Area High School but cannot reach them because school is out. • Right Track YJPRO’s website stated that it only for St. Paul residents only but will reach out next month and see if Falcon Heights youth residents can take part in the program and partnership. • Lastly, Staff was able to connect with U of M 4-H. 4-H is an organization that helps counties, cities, schools, and residents build youth development clubs. CEC can look into forming a 4-H club like City of Lauderdale where the club promotes healthy interests in youth in a wide range of diverse subjects such as public speaking, leadership, and hands-on learning opportunities. Forming a club is a big step, but CEC can start little by creating leadership boot camps at the City Hall. • Staff will connect with other local organizations in the list and will bring updates in the next meeting. E. INFORMATION/ANNOUNCEMENTS • Commission Member May: would like CEC to promote about bicycle safety at community events to help reduce risks. F. ADJOURNMENT: 8:55 P.M.