CC_Minutes_2024_0311 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

Regular City Council Meeting Monday, March 11,2024 Page 17 Mr. James believed the Council focus on the human rights aspect of Chapter 205 is misguided. He explained since he has been on the Commission, members have never discussed going out to talk to people about human rights. The Commission does not do that. The Commissioners go out and listen and if someone has an issue with human rights,the Commission will talk about it and give it to the Council. The Commissioners do not want to direct the Council; the Commissioners want to tell the Council and be ambassadors to the community. In the past,the Commission has not had a lot of opportunities other than standing around to talk to people and bring back to the Council what is being talked about in the community and what are believed to be important issues. He explained the Commission has a plan to do that this coming year. He indicated the Commission does not expect solutions this evening, which is why urgency is needed from the Council for what the Commission is to do starting in April. Mr. James explained he personally has a bunch of ideas about how the Council can put all of these things together,have an evaluative group working, have a group of non-commission people perhaps working with the Commission so that there is a formal Commission but also another group that is coordinating with the Commission. He has a lot of ideas, but no one has reached out to him or to the Vice-Chair to find out what they think, what the Commission is doing, or what is planned. He takes that as a personal insult and thought it was disrespectful to the Commission. Mr. Elliot Franke, HRIEC Commissioner Mr.Franke stated he appreciated this discussion.He has felt some of the frustrations the Council has been talking about. He stated when the HRIEC has its meetings, the Council may not know about the work that has been done so far,which has been a lot of work led by Commissioner James, Commissioner Tidball, and Ms. Olson who turned these into focus groups so that the Commission could develop a scope and workplan for the Council. He thought it would be wonderful if, when the HRIEC holds these meetings and starts to get the actual work done, if at least one Councilmember could occasionally attend a meeting. If that cannot be done, he suggested the Council at least look at the meeting minutes and have a little discussion amongst the Council and communicate directly through the HRIEC Chairperson. He explained communication is everything, the meeting tonight is wonderful for everyone, and the Commission appreciates this conversation, and appreciates the ability to serve the community. Mr.Namit Bhalla, HRIEC Commissioner Mr. Bhalla explained he wanted to bring something different to the table other than the things on paper, that what is being talked about is humans. When the City puts out their wordings as human rights and looking for people to come on as volunteer positions, the City is going to get people who are very sacrificial and passionate.