Human Relations Commission - September 21, 2017 Minutes
Regular Meeting: Thursday, September 21, 2017
A regular meeting of the Board of Human Relations Commissioners of the City of Fargo, North Dakota, was held at the City Commission Room at City Hall at 12:00 o’clock p.m., Thursday, September 21, 2017.
The Human Relations Commissioners present or absent were as follows:
Present: Rachel Hoffman, Dave Lanpher, Paul Jensen, Cheryl Schaefle, Barry Nelson
Absent: Hassan Lamba, Tanya RedRoad, Laetitia Hellerud, and Abdiwali Sharif-Abdinasir
Also Present: Kara Gloe, Vince Kempf (Cultural Liaison Police Officer), Kevin Brooks, Megan Myrdal, Mike Froemke, Andrew Bushaw
Item 1. Welcome and Introductions
Chair Hoffman welcomed Members to the meeting and introductions were made.
Item 2. Approval of Agenda and Minutes
Mr. Nelson moved the agenda and minutes for the August 17, 2017 Human Relations Commission meeting be approved. Second by Mr. Lanpher. All Members present voted aye and the motion was declared carried.
Item 3. Megan Myrdal – Food Insecurity
Megan Myrdal, Family Nutrition Extension Agent with NDSU, spoke about some of the work happening in the FM areas regarding food access. She gave the Human Relations Commission Members the Minnesota Food Charter, which is a document that provides a road map to safe/nutritious food for all Minnesotans. She added it discusses challenges and strategies that communities can look towards to increase access to safe, nutritious food.
Ms. Myrdal passed around a handout that displays some of the positive work to improve healthy food access in the Fargo-Moorhead Metro Area. She went on to talk about Cass Clay Food Partners.
Ms. Myrdal talked about several projects currently happening in the FM Area:
• Cass Clay Food Partners is a group of individuals working to make sure everyone in our community has access to safe, nutritious, affordable, and culturally-based foods. It started as an initiative in 2010.
• Veggies for the Pantry is an effort between the NDSU Master Gardeners and the Emergency Food Pantry that has identified 11 locations where people can donate their extra produce on Monday evenings from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
• Ruby’s Food Pantry, Minnesota State Community & Technical College, and the First Congregational UCC in Moorhead formed a relationship to do food distribution on campus the 4th Tuesday of every month. There are no income qualifications to participate in this program. For $20, anyone can bring two large boxes or laundry baskets that can be filled with food.
• SNAP Double Bucks allows people using SNAP to buy twice as much produce with their SNAP dollars at the Red River Farmer’s Market. Prairie Roots has a program, funded by Essentia, which gives SNAP recipients a $20 voucher to buy more food.
• Red River Market has also partnered with MATBUS to give people free rides to the Red River Market.
• Growing Together grew over 52,000 lbs of food last year that they distributed to 150 families who volunteered with the garden.
• Heart-n-Soul Community Café offers a pay-what-you-can-afford local shared meal served on the last Sunday of every month from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Mr. Jensen ask how often Heart-n-Soul Community Café is open. Ms. Myrdal stated it is open on the last Sunday of each month. However, they are ultimately working toward having a permanent location and be open every day in the same way a restaurant would be. Mr. Jensen asked how work with Ugly Food is going and if they are getting food from supermarkets that are near expiration date. Ms. Myrdal stated that Ugly Food of the North does not do any food recovery. Great Plains Food Bank has a program called Daily Bread that sends a truck to stores to pick up perishable foods and gets them to distribution sites. She also talked about the Cass Clay Food Partners’ gleaning network, which is a system to get food that might have been left in a field or community garden, etc. harvested and brought into food pantries. They are working to move beyond a gleaning network to a community produce strategy.
Mr. Nelson asked how much awareness regarding food insecurity our community has.
Ms. Myrdal stated there is much work to be done to help raise awareness and reduce stigma. She further stated that 1 in 9 individuals in our community are utilizing our charitable food networks.
Mr. Strand stated that when people are hungry they are not free and commended the work all these groups are doing. Ms. Myrdal stated that work being done in schools with hot breakfast, hot lunch, backpack program, etc. is very important and needs to be funded as it is a first line of defense against hunger.
Item 4. Public Comment
No public comments were made.
Item 5. Hate Crime Training
Ms. Gloe asked for clarification on if the Human Relations Commission’s desire is to wait until after the October goal setting session to take up a partnership with the Department of Justice. She further inquired if ND United Against Hate would be interested in hosting the community conversation.
Mr. Nelson stated that ND United Against Hate is planning a community conversation for October 12th and that it would be possible to integrate Ms. Salamanca’s, from the Justice Department, help into that.
Mr. Strand asked what type of approach Ms. Salamanca wants on who should host this conversation. Ms. Gloe stated that she is unsure. Ms. Salamanca has proposed to help, but has not asked for a specific format. Mr. Strand suggested the Human Relations Commission stay connected to this and anything done with the Department of Justice. Ms. Hoffman stated that she thought the Human Relations Commission would want to discuss it as part of the 2018 goal setting session.
Mr. Nelson described the October 12th event from 5-8 p.m. hosted by ND United Against Hate at the Holiday Inn. He stated that it will be a community conversation about hate. They are interested in having people show up who want to help develop a community-wide plan. Four interest areas have emerged: rapid response team, court watch, education and awareness, and policy.
Item 6. Resolution Supporting an Inclusive Community
Mark Froemke and Mr. Andrew Bushaw from AFL-CIO presented the Resolution Supporting an Inclusive Community. Mr. Froemke stated the resolution came about because of the proposed pro-white rally that was ultimately cancelled. Mr. Froemke stated the hope of the resolution is to look to our better angels to exemplify who we are as a community. Mr. Bushaw stated that he has two teenagers and he feels it is important to show them, from the highest levels of government, that this is who we want to be.
Ms. Hoffman pointed out that the Human Relations Commission would be voting on whether or not to send the resolution to the City Commission and request they pass it.
Mr. Jensen asked what the ultimate goal is for the resolution. Mr. Froemke stated that he hopes the City Commission will pass it, religious organizations will pass it, educational institutions will pass it, and all the people of the community will broaden it to a higher level.
Mr. Lanpher moved to support the resolution. Second by Mr. Nelson. All Members present voted aye and the motion was declared carried.
Mr. Strand said he will work to get it on the City Commission agenda on October 9. He further stated that he hoped the Human Relations Commission and Mr. Froemke and Mr. Bushaw would be there to support it.
Ms. Schaefle stated that from her background with union work on both sides, she had to use the regulations as a point of reference. She stated that this resolution will be something we can point to and say “This is not who we are” when terrible things happen.
Mr. Nelson shared a quote: “Silence in the face of injustice is complicity with the oppressor,” and stated that the feels it is important to not be silent on this very important issue.
Mr. Strand pointed out that while the Mayor has spoken out, there has been a sort of vacuum from the rest of the City Commission. He feels there is value to giving them an opportunity to speak up.
Mr. Froemke stated that he feels this is a teachable moment for our community.
Item 7. Budget Review
Ms. Hoffman reviewed the Human Relations Commission’s budget with the Members.
Item 8. Budget Requests
No budget requests were made.
Item 9. Proposed Bylaws
Ms. Hoffman inquired if the Human Relations Commission had any suggested changes to the proposed bylaws, which were sent to the City Attorney for review. She noted, once the bylaws are finalized, the Human Relations Commission will vote on them.
Mr. Lanpher requested a language change from president to chair on page 1. He further suggested not locking in a day/time/place for the monthly meetings, instead just saying the Board will meet monthly.
Item 10. Strategic Planning/Hate Crime Curricula
Ms. Hoffman pointed out that the Board is renaming this to “2018 Goal Setting.” Ms. Gloe reminded Members that this will be held Tuesday, October 3, 2017 from 5:30 – 8:30 p.m. in the Community Room at the Downtown Public Library. Ms. Hoffman pointed out that dinner will be served. Ms. Gloe noted the draft goal setting plan included in the packet was to be taken home, so that Members could start thinking about 2018 goals. Ms. Hoffman suggested that if any Member felt strongly about any goal in particular, to think about ways they could take leadership in spearheading the effort.
Item. 11. MLK Committee/Update
Ms. Gloe gave an update from Ms. Hellerud. She stated the venue, billboard, emcee, and nomination forms are all done and on the right track. Ms. Gloe pointed out that the nomination forms were sent out. She further requested that every Member forward the nomination forms to their networks. The next MLK Committee meeting is Monday, September 25th. Ms. Hoffman reminded the Human Relations Commission Members that the link is on the website, and asked people to share it widely. The deadline for receiving nominations is October 15, 2017
Mr. Strand asked if previous nominations carried forward. Mr. Lanpher said no, as there is no way to hold that.
Ms. Hoffman requested the Board share the nomination forms on the City of Fargo’s social media pages. Ms. Gloe noted the Human Relations Commission has put out a press release for this.
Item 12. Other Business
Mr. Nelson talked about the North Dakota Human Rights Coalition’s (NDHRC) Human Rights Week in November:
• Juried Rights Art Show at the Spirit Room
• ND Human Rights Film Festival at the Fargo Theatre, November 15-17th
• Human Rights Summit at the Dakota Medical Foundation, Saturday, November 18th
He further pointed out that the NDHRC is accepting nominations for the Arc of Justice award, given out at the Summit.
Ms. Hoffman pointed out that there is money set aside in the Human Relations Commission budget to send Members to the Summit. Mr. Lanpher noted that this year, there is an option to buy a package that would allow someone to attend both the film festival and the Summit for $55.
Item 13. Adjourn
The time at adjournment was 12:57 p.m.