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Roseville Human Rights Commission DRAFT Minutes—January 11, 2011 Page 4 of 5 139 Third Noah Livingston RAMS Mr. Jeff Bibeau 140 HM Christian Favazza Parkview Mr. Lucas Ebert 141 HM Tim Schnell RAMS Mr. Jeff Bibeau 142 HM I. S. RAMS Ms. Kerry Gamble 143 144 Curti reminded commissioners that the students will be invited to the February 28 City Council 145 meeting. The top three winners would read their essays and the families would be invited for a 146 reception. She reminded commissioners of the importance of their attending the meeting. 147 148 5c. Initiatives for 2011 149 150 Chair Singleton explained that he looked into cities offering mediation for residents. He found that 151 Bloomington, Minneapolis, St. Cloud, St. Paul and Winona offer mediation. Minneapolis, St. Paul 152 and St. Cloud have paid staff, while Bloomington and Winona have Human Rights Commission 153 volunteers conduct mediations. 154 155 Chair Singleton said by offering mediation services for human rights complaints in the City,the 156 Commission becomes more engaged. It educates the community about issues and it helps the City 157 to resolve something before it becomes a bigger issue. He noted that the City used to mediate 158 complaints but has not done so for many years. 159 160 Chair Singleton spoke with a Bloomington staff member to see how they handle complaints. A 161 complaint first goes to the Administration Department, which then sends it to the Commission 162 Chair. The Chair reviews it to see whether it is within the city's jurisdiction and whether it falls 163 under the Human Rights Act. If it does, it is assigned to a qualified mediator. Bloomington has two 164 commissioners who are qualified mediators. The Commission then offers no-fault mediation 165 services. Services are offered at mutually agreed upon time. If an agreement is reached, the City 166 Attorney reviews. If it is not, the mediation is closed and the grievant can pursue other avenues. 167 168 Bloomington had 27 complaints in 2009 and 21 complaints in 2010. 169 170 Chair Singleton opened the floor for discussion. 171 172 Commissioners asked how many complaints relevant to Roseville were filed at the Department of 173 Human Rights (DHR). Chair Singleton said that DHR could only release aggregate data. In 2008, 174 11 complaints were filed and in 2009, eight complaints were filed. Five were for employment; 175 seven disability; three national origin; four race; two religion and two sex. He noted that 13 176 complaints were dismissed, four had no probable cause, one was withdrawn and one had a 177 settlement. 178 179 Commissioners asked for clarification or details of the discrimination charges because it would help 180 the city to better understand the issues in Roseville. 181 182 Chair Singleton said it would require City Council to approve the HRC taking on this responsibility. 183 He noted that it costs about $800 for a person to receive training. Commissioner Jaeger asked 184 whether a trained mediator would have to be a member of the HRC.