Human Rights Commission Meeting   11/16/2023

Thank you.

Roll call.

Here we go.

Jessica.

Present.

Jeanette.

Present.

Suzanne.

Here.

Now we will recite our mission.

Act as a strong advocate to justice and equal opportunity by providing citywide leadership and guidance in the area of civil rights.

Great.

Jeanette?

Approve.

and Andy.

Approved.

Just to confirm we do have quorum which is five or greater so thanks for everybody being here.

Maybe they want to add?

Yeah, we'll continue to stay in touch with all of them because we learn, and I'm always asking questions from people who have been doing it longer than we have, so.

I have a question about, as far as the force of power, what are the main things that those,

I think we have, Will and I have a plan to reach out to some of, I think Prince William and Virginia Beach in particular, just to kind of pick their brains on some of the programming they've been doing to see if we can bring some, or replicate some of that up here.

And then the DA?

both of whom had good things, interesting stuff to say.

Being a part of the VHRC is changing, so I don't know what it will look like for people next year.

It was just good to see the other commissioners and what they're doing, and also share what we're doing.

That's all my updates.

Yes.

And I believe that's everything I have to update you on.

OK.

Thank you.

Just let me know.

I don't know if we've identified specific people that we would like to have on here.

So I have not checked with Max recently to see what the current standing of number of applicants is, but yeah I mean that's a welcome thing if you know folks, have them call if they're curious and want to talk to me or we can put them in touch with Chair, Vice Chair as well if they have questions.

I think so far our approach has been more broadly generally advertising it like with a newsflash that just goes to anyone looking at the city website or anybody who's subscribed and things like that rather than targeting specific individuals.

Yeah, I was just thinking, I mean, that personal touch, if they're, and I'm only saying that I'm not necessarily, like, I'm not looking at you, like, you should be doing all of it, like, I'm just too, to the point, like, if we, if we have individuals, it might take a little extra, extra boost sometimes, I think, for people to, I mean, everybody's so committed to so many different things, and so, sometimes it takes that extra, extra to actually recruit somebody, so that's the reason I was asking.

That's how it's done in the past.

People usually reach out to someone and they need to ask.

Is there a link or a place to sign up for the presentation to Charlottesville Refugee Dialogue?

It is tomorrow, which is short notice, but.

We could probably connect you with Harriet if you wanted to get a link or something like that.

Okay.

But I have to potentially be there for open comment anyways.

Which one are we talking about?

So to be able to tell, to talk about and advertise being on the commission, I have to already be potentially at a city council meeting so I can also do that then?

Okay.

You were just saying that people should go like independently as their

Anything else Lily?

Do you have anything else to add, Todd?

So they're going to go through it and look at it and decide what things to incorporate.

Will the mayor be following up with this?

So if you do have any questions that you want me to pull over to him or anything like that, let me know.

Did you want to talk more about the proclamation?

Yeah.

Todd, are you presenting at the 4.30 reports on Monday or the regular meeting?

I think they'll probably talk for maybe five to ten minutes and then, you know, just be open to councilor questions.

Yeah, it's open.

Closed sessions are really, really kind of limited to personnel matters and stuff like that.

I don't think there's public comment.

I don't think there's public comment.

So will you still be tabling at West Haven that day?

Totally clear on whether that's more of a tabling event or more of just a show up and enjoy the time together type of event.

Usually that's what it is.

So I don't know that I'll be doing the regular table kind of thing there, but I am planning to attend it just to represent us.

So will you send us confirmation about when you're speaking?

And there's multiple departments presenting, so we're just one in the line.

I can check out their agenda.

It looks to start at four.

Anything else?

Nope, that's all for me.

Just to clarify, that means we are not having a meeting or a celebration next Thursday?

Yes, there will not be a celebration on Thursday.

So the next item is action updates, which I'm assuming is whether or not we're going to have our workshop committee meeting next month.

Just one meeting in December.

And then the note about November 20th to December 4th city council meeting that was in reference to like advertising and then also the proclamation we can get on city councils.

We'll have to talk to the clerk about that one.

Next Monday?

Yep.

Yeah, the second, or the first Thursday.

Is that 6.30?

We switched that around a couple of meetings ago, just anticipating the holidays and travel and so forth.

and then we'll open it for public comment again.

Oh I totally skipped over that.

We just can't read it.

Sorry, I was looking at that.

And it could be a little alarming, so.

Yeah.

Are there any Commissioner updates?

I'm not completely prepared to talk details but we've been talking about the zoning ordinance and it's coming to some critical points so if you are someone that wants to advocate for that we encourage you to look at the resources that are out there and speak to council either through a letter or public comment about investing in affordable, equitable housing.

And oh, should I talk about that tonight?

18th.

I believe, yeah.

They have to get it done in January, because I think it's going to be helpful quickly after.

Is that all?

I think so.

We will adjourn at 7.06 PM.

Thank you.

Thank you.