CCP 03-29-2004 - Laserfiche WebLink

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. . . ARDEN HILLS REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES MARCH 8, 2004 7 Councilmember Larson stated there was a list of possible Council actions regarding racism and human rights that he had asked be placed in the Council packet for the Council's consideration. He stated he did not believe they specifically need a Human Rights Commission to deal with this issue. He noted the School District has not done a lot to address this issue, but the students had done some things about the issuc. He handed out materials related to integration districts and other materials addressing this type of issue to the CounciL He stated it was important to inform people that the City was not going to tolerate racism. Hc stated he was supportive in passing the Proclamation, but he did not agree with the third whereas clause in the Proclamation. He stated he did not believe the School District had taken positive or quick steps to address this issue. Councilmember Holden asked what percentage of Arden Hills students attend the Mounds View School District. Councilmember Grant replied approximately 17 percent of the overall studcnt population. Councilmember Holden stated she understood that there were also issues in the neighborhoods and she believcd they needed to be more proactive than putting up posters at City Hall or making literature available to residents. Mayor Aplikowski stated shc gcnerally agreed with Councilmember Larson's suggestions. Jeff Rothes, a Director of the League of Minllesota Human Rights Commission, stated when he was first appointed to the Isanti County Human Rights Commission he did not believe Isanti County had an issuc with human rights. However, he quickly realized that they did. He noted the Human Rights Commission dealt witb issues other than racism, such as women's rights, handicapped issues, etc. He stated they were seeing more hate crimes these days and these hate crimes needed action. He noted the way to fight hate crimes was through education. He indicated the Leaguc of Minnesota Human Rights Commission was putting together a presentation that the justice system could refer people to who were convicted of hate crimes. He stated they were in the process of putting together a two-day event at the Shoreview Community Center. The event is sponsored by the YWCA and is for training of facilitators in human rights. He noted all interested people could attcnd this session and there was no age limit. He indicated posters and literature were fine, but they did not solve the problem. He stated the COmrl1ission would like to work with everyone who was having a problem with human rights. He noted there was a lot of prejudice and misundcrstanding in the communities. He stated the Council was welcome at any oftheir meetings and they also welcomed anyone's participation. Councilmember Grant agreed that the School District had not done as much as they could. He expressed concern that this Resolution made it seem as if everything occurred at Mounds View High School, and he noted the events occurred throughout the Mounds View School District and not just the High SchooL He requested the Resolution be revised to include the School District as a whole.