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369 <br />3�0 <br />371 <br />372 <br />373 <br />374 <br />375 <br />376 <br />377 <br />378 <br />379 <br />380 <br />381 <br />382 <br />383 <br />384 <br />385 <br />386 <br />387 <br />388 <br />389 <br />390 <br />391 <br />392 <br />393 <br />394 <br />395 <br />396 <br />Human Rights Commission Minutes <br />November 20, 2013 — Draft Minutes <br />Page 10 of 10 <br />Minutes Attachment <br />Remarks by Outgoing Chair Grefenberg <br />November 20, 2013, Human Rights Commission Meeting <br />Pve always suffered from a characier defect, namely, becoming impatient and fi°ustrated at how <br />much work remains to be done, <br />Rather than looking back at how much work has been achieved. <br />However, this afternoon I took a look back, at the minutes of my first Human Rights Commission <br />meeting in April 2009 now four years ago. That look back gave me some sustenance that we <br />have come a long way over the past four and a hal.f years. <br />And let me stress our achievements have come about not because of my efforts, but the <br />effort of the prior chair and the efforts of the Commissioners who have given their time and <br />talents to the Commission's work. <br />People like Kris Doneen and Thelma McKenzie; <br />Youth Commissioners like Marie Siliciano and Seth .Iosephson <br />And the persistent and persevering assistance of staff like Carolyn Curti. <br />Now we have the organizational stwucture set up, with a committee st�ucture which permits the <br />Gommission not taking its time up in detail work such as menu selection for Community <br />Dialogues or flyer design, but can instead focus on policy development and strategic plans and <br />f'orming partnerships with other community groups. <br />We now have a Commission brochure relevant to our actual work, and an updated web-site, and <br />soon business cards to assist in our outreach effort. <br />397 And we have a somewhat higher profzle in the Roseville Community, because we have <br />398 aggressively soughi out press atteniion, collaborated with other community groups such as the <br />399 School District and the Maplewood and Shoreview Human Rights Commissions, and not feared <br />400 to take on controversial issues. <br />401 We also seem to have more relevance to the individual components of our civic culture because <br />402 we have intentionally reached out to the City Council and developed a more dynamic <br />403 relationship whereby we seek out their opinions and questions BEFORE we give them our advice <br />404 and recommendations. <br />405 A role I'd recommend the new Commission leadership continue <br />406 We have also expanded the concept of Human Righis beyond racial discrimination to include <br />407 Justice and Respect for Diversity. We have been at the cutiing edge of community building and <br />408 dialogue while respecting diversity of opinion and not frowning on dissent. <br />409 So I perceive the Human Rights Commission is now in a position to take advantage of individual <br />41 o commissioner's strengths and avoid their personal weaknesses, and continue to work collectively <br />4ll on expanding the role of Human Rights in the life of our community. <br />412 <br />