Human Rights Commission - January 25, 2025 Minutes

The Regular Meeting of the Human Rights Commission of the City of Fargo, North Dakota, was held in the Commission Chambers at City Hall at 12:00 p.m., Thursday, January 16, 2025.

The Human Rights Commissioners present or absent were as follows:

Present: Tambah Saah, Cody Severson, Kristin Nelson, Sekou Sirleaf, Nancy Boyle, Zoe Absey, Carolyn Becraft, Courtney Kronback.

Absent: Aaron Kawreh, Xavier Welty, Ritchell Aboah.

Other attendees: John Strand, City Commissioner, Michael Redlinger and Brenda Derrig, City Administration.

Item 1. Welcome and introductions:
o The meeting was called to order by Sekou.
o A moment of silence was observed for the victims of the California wildfires.
o Attendees introduced themselves and their roles.

Item 2. Approve or amend agenda:
o A motion was made by Carolyn to approve the agenda.
o A second was made by Nancy.
o The motion passed unanimously.

Item 3. Approval of December 19, 2024 meeting minutes:
o A motion was made by Zoe to approve the minutes of the December 19, 2024 meeting.
o A second was made by Carolyn.
o The motion passed unanimously.

Item 4. Legislative Update:
o Kristin Nelson provided an update.
o Key bills discussed:
 House Bill 1145: Requiring the Ten Commandments to be displayed in all school classrooms and higher education institutions. Concerns were raised about the lack of funding for implementation.
 House Bill 1150: Reintroducing "blue laws" with Sunday business restrictions. Concerns were raised about the definition of "Sabbath" and potential impact on businesses.
 House Bill 1181: Establishing gender usage language based on sex assigned at birth in school policies. Concerns were raised about the implementation of DNA testing.
 Senate Bill 2105: Restricting student surveys conducted by third parties, with concerns about the impact on the Youth Behavior Risk Survey.
 Senate Bill 2104: Granting the Superintendent of Public Instruction oversight of school district compliance with state laws.
 House Bill 1144: Banning transgender individuals from using bathrooms that align with their gender identity at birth, with civil penalties.
o Discussion included:
 Concerns about the impact of these bills on the community and the City.
 The advocacy efforts of organizations such as Prairie Action North Dakota.
 The City's process for taking positions on legislative bills.
 The City of Fargo is tracking the proposed legislation and will provide updates.
Item 5. Strategic Planning Date:
o Discussion regarding scheduling a strategic planning meeting for the Human Rights Commission and the need to finalize a date.
o It was decided that Brenda and Michael will send out a Doodle Poll with potential dates to the Commission members.
o The Commission discussed the possibility of inviting a facilitator for the strategic planning session.
o The Commission discussed the possibility of having both in person and virtual options for the strategic planning meeting.
Item 6. Catch Phrase 2025:
o The proposed catchphrase for 2025, "Diving Deeper," was discussed.
o It was decided to postpone the final decision on the catchphrase until after the strategic planning meeting.
Item 7. MLK Day:
o Updates were provided on the upcoming MLK Day event on January 20th.
o Award winners were announced, and the event program was discussed.
o Commission members were encouraged to volunteer and attend the event.
o Discussion included:
 Name badges and identification for Human Rights Commission members.
 Flow of the program and who will be presenting awards.
 Table for the awards and the use of the HRC table cloth.
 Need for a group photo of the current HRC members.
 The need for name badges for HRC members was raised, and it was requested that this be addressed for future events.
 The suggestion to include HRC member headshots and bios on the City of Fargo website was made.
Item 8. Administrative update:
o Working on setting up the agenda setting meetings for the Wednesday the week prior to the HRC meeting.
o Sekou has been looking at potential Human Rights conferences that they could attend. Also looking at the potential to tour the Winnipeg Human Rights Museum.
Item 9. Announcements:
o January – Poverty Awareness Month and Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month
o Observation of Buddhist New Year
o Martin Luther King Day
o International Holocaust Remembrance Day
o Chinese New Year
o February is Black History month
o Random Act of Kindness Day is February, 17
o World day of Social Justice
o Rainbow Prom will be coming up for area colleges
o Immigrant development Center Fund Raiser
o Day of Action
o Global Refugee Day

Item 10. Public comment:
o Ryan Netterville spoke.

Next meeting:
o March 20, 2025 at noon.

Adjourn:
o The meeting adjourned at 12:58 o’clock p.m.

Note: These minutes are a summary of the key points discussed during the meeting. For a more detailed record, refer to the audio recording of the meeting.