2009_0209_Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

. DISCUSSION . Making Roseville a more welcoming community requires leadership from our residents. At the . recent Human Rights Commission sponsored community forum, nearly 100 attendees shared . many ideas about this topic. It is important that we tap this resource, get those (and other) . citizens engaged and increase our efforts to build neighborhoods around our common interest � and goals. � With the completed Imagine Roseville 2025 strategies, staff believes that the energies of the � Human Rights Commission members could be used more effectively with a change in focus to � Neighborhood outreach and communication and furthering the community awareness of our � growing diversity as well as our shared values. � Utilizing the existing Human Rights Commission as a reconstituted "Neighborhood and � Community Diversity Commission" could provide the community focus and effort needed to � further the Imagine Roseville 2025 goals in these areas. � The Roseville Human Rights Commission was established in 1968 to secure equal opportunity � for all citizens by assisting the state department of human rights. Over the years of its existence, � the Human Rights Commission has been an important component of the Roseville government, � advocating for human rights issues and addressing specific conditions or situations. � The Commission has not been directly involved in human rights complaints since the state � Human Rights Department discontinued referring complaints to cities in the early 1990s. � A Neighborhood and Community Diversity Commission would expand the Human Rights f Commission's mission and give the City a greater opportunity to achieve these goals. It would f support greater diversity awareness and cultural competence and help the City fully engage all of f our residents to feel a vital part of our community. From sponsoring and facilitating community f activities, helping to residents to identify and establish neighborhoods and communications f networks to hosting cultural fairs to celebrate our diversity, this new commission can be a f catalyst of change needed for our community. f Recent demographic statistics indicate a growing diversity in Roseville's population. The US f Census Sureau report based on statistics from 2005-2007: 10% of Roseville residents were foreign born. 12% spoke a language other than English at home. The most commonly spoken language was Spanish. 27% of residents reported that they did not speak English "very well." The 2000 Census, reported that 10.5% of residents were some other race than white. In 2005, it is estimated that 14.7% of residents are some other race than white. At its January meeting the Human Rights Commission discussed the restructuring of the Commission as a part of their strategic plan and goals, and consensually endorsed the concept. Page 2 of 3