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Human Rights Commission Minutes September 18, 2013 Page 5 of 9 Commissioner Becker understood this to be the case; however, the Karen community was in fear of retaliation when voicing concerns regarding their rental units. In addition, Commissioner Groff noted, the new immigrants did not understand the City's Ordinances. Further discussion ensued regarding the housing concerns for the Karen community. Chair Grefenberg said the HRC could play a useful role in assisting the Karen community and its leaders -to bring these housing concerns to the HRA and the City Council to assure that the immigrants' issues were clearly voiced. Public Comment: Chair Grefenberg asked if there was anyone in the audience who would like to comment on this agenda item. City Councilmember Bob, Willmus introduced himself as a city council member and a member of the Roseville Housing and Redevelopment Authority. He emphasized the proposal currently being discussed was not a registration program but a multi -unit rental licensing ordinance which would affect every rental building of more than four units and would require these properties to be inspected. The intent was to assure the multi - family properties were complying with City Code, in addition to being safe and secure for Roseville citizens. Councilmember Willmus indicated was pleased the Karen community had come forward and voiced their concerns about units occupied by more than the number of persons currently allowed by the code, in other words possible unintended consequences. He noted the proposed program would go into effect in 2015, thus allowing time to work with some of these groups and address their concerns. He encouraged the HRC to continue to work with the Karen in assessing the draft code. Commissioner Courneya asked whether there were other communities who may have similar concerns, suggesting that the outreach could be broader. She expressed the opinion that the impact of these code requirements could be troubling to others as well as the Karen, mentioning that economic disparities affecting residents could negatively impact others. Further Discussion and Commission Action: The Chair drew the Commission's attention to the Grefenberg /Groff recommendation contained in their September 12, 2013, Background & Recommendation Report. [This recommendation reads as follows: Recommendation: We recommend the Commission continue to develop a collaborative relationship with the Karen Organization of Minnesota and the Karen Community. Therefore we are also recommending that we revise Work Plan 97a above to be less specific and thus allow the Commission and the Karen Community to mutually consider any of the possibilities listed in the attached Summary, or similar efforts, prior to determining a course of action. We therefore recommend the Commission amend its 2013 -2014 Work Plan as follows: 7) Focus on ethnic minorities including new immigrants