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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCEC meeting minutes Jan. 29th Present: Shirley, Tim (city), Randy (council liaison), Georgiana, Kim, Katie, Stacey, Ahmed 1. Called to order at 7:01 p.m. a. Introductions of group 2. Minutes of November 13, 2017 meeting approved. Motioned – Stacey, Seconded – Seconded – Ahmed 3. House Keeping Items a. Elect Chair for commission: Shirley nominated, passed unanimously. Elect Secretary for commission: Stacey nominated, unanimously passed. b. Open meeting law information provided by Tim. MN Supreme Court case(s) supports that email can violate open meeting laws. Tim has a reminder in his email not to reply all. Emails can be part of the public record. Decisions should be part of the open meeting process. We can send messages to Tim and he can decide what to forward to the whole group. Concern of “collusion” - groups of 2 or 3 commissioners emailing coming to a conclusion in a serial fashion isn’t an open process. We can also email items to Shirley and Tim together for them to forward as needed. Additionally, while we want transparency to be a priority, we also don’t want to lose messages, thoughts or ideas as a part of side-conversations. Commissioners were strongly encouraged to share ideas through appropriate channels. c. Bylaws: Shirley shared example bylaws from Citizen Advisory Committee Capitol Region Watershed District. Because we are a small commission, attendance is critical so that we have a quorum and business can be conducted. Bylaws should be adopted across all city commissions for Falcon Heights to provide uniform policies/procedures . Committee discussion of bylaw preferences for absences. Excused absences are when a member calls ahead that they cannot attend. We could limit unexcused absences by forfeiting membership on the commission after a set number of unexcused absences such as 3 total or 2 consecutive in a calendar year. Commission currently has 6 members, and is interviewing for a 7th member. For this commission, quorum is half of the members. commission can be half + one of the members.) Staff liaisons can take the concept to all commissions and gather feedback. The rules could be adopted in multiple ways: addition to city code (time consuming), add to the administrative manual (easier to update and amend if needed). Commission preference to limit unexcused absences to two consecutive meetings or three in a one year period. Commission preference to adopt quorum rules consistent with other commissions in the city. Conflict of interest and disclosure rule. Shirley referred us back to example shared at a meeting a few months ago. Commissioners should not benefit as a result of their position and should abstain from voting in the event of a potential conflict. Should commissioners be able to vote to prevent a commissioner with a potential conflict from voting? Discussion of pros and cons. Not every disclosure is a conflict of interest. Don’t want to discourage people from making disclosures. Commissioner could still participate in discussion We may need to review other examples of bylaws or rules. 4. Goal Setting: Working on bylaws should be a goal for the year. Events and dates for the year Jan. Meeting 1/29 Feb. Meeting 2/26 Meeting topics: task force, volunteers March 3/19 Meeting topics: events planning, Rec on the go events April 4/16 TBD: Host open house Larp./Snelling May Skip meeting, have 5/19 Spring together TBD: piano in the park as part of grant funding TBD: event for new signage in the park June 6/18 July 7/19 Ice cream social New event with sheriff’s office: hot dogs with deputies. Combine with ice cream social? Aug 8/20 FHTF led event (Nite to Unite also happens in August) Sept. 9/17 Oct. 10/15 Human Rights Day planning session at meeting TBD: chili cook off Nov. 11/19 Dec. 12/10 Human Rights Day event Want our events to be inclusive of all Falcon Heights residents, particularly our less engaged audiences. One concept: recruit volunteers interested in this to assist the commission. We need to reach out to people that have previously expressed interest. ● Discussion of volunteer concept. Want to have clear activities for volunteers so they know what to expect and how to help. E.g., can you contact 5 neighbors and friends about attending an event? Want to represent the variety in our community. Open house proposal for April. Host event at Larp./Snelling complex to meet people directly and promote events and also listen to any concerns about the events. We could have light snacks and mingle with residents. Personal interaction could encourage more people to attend the event. We need to consider multiple apartment buildings in our community also. Volunteers could assist with this outreach also. Consider whether we should be involved in Nite to Unite events at all. Neighborhood commission had been involved before the merger of that commission and the Human Rights Commission. This commission could get involved to meet more people, stop by events, promote other events coming up such as Human Rights Day. 5. Not for Sale Day: Came from Urban Outreach Center, Univ. MN. Growing list of Minnesota cities are participating. This would follow on our Human Rights Day event. Main goal would be to raise awareness and indicate support. Commission voted to send the proclamation to the City Council recommending that they adopt it. 6. Updates: ● Georgiana attended a conference on Beyond Resistance. Concept is to recognize that there are multiple groups working on good things and they have overlap, discussion of how to bring groups together and connect them, build shared resources. Might have resources relevant to the commission, Georgiana can be a liaison. ● Sub-committee question: how do subcommittees of commissions operate and how to rules like open meeting laws apply to them? ● Randy is here as City Council member, not here to speak for the sheriff’s office. He is not here to speak for sheriff’s office. Commission would like information on policing however. Randy could help gather information from his sheriff’s office colleagues or help find someone to give updates a few times a year. City staff can assist with items like data collection or having a deputy stop by at a few meetings. ● Discussion of some community thefts from cars and related postings on Facebook and Nextdoor. Some information posted about patrol services is inaccurate. ● Ramsey County Sheriff’s Citizens Academy occurring in February. January academy was cancelled. ● Ahmed is resigning as he is moving out of Falcon Heights. The commission thanked Ahmed for his service. A new opening will be posted. Meeting adjourned, 9:04 p.m.