City of Lawrence
Lawrence Human Relations Commission
May 21, 2015 – 5:30 PM
Minutes
Members Present: Bill Welch, James Dunn, Carl Edwards, Sarah Bloxsom, Katrina McClure, Jacqueline Becks, Martha Taylor
Members Excused: Scott Criqui
Staff Present: Scott Wagner
Public Present: None
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Introduction of New Commissioners
Martha Taylor was introduced as a new member of the Human Relations Commission. She gave a brief background on herself, including the fact that she has previously served on the commission in the 1980s. Jacqueline Becks also introduced herself to the commission. The other members of the commission also introduced themselves to the new members.
Commission Meeting Called to Order
The Lawrence Human Relations Commission (LHRC) Meeting was called to order by Vice-Chairman, William Welch, at 5:30 p.m. in the Carnegie Building, located at 200 West 9th Street, East Gallery Room, Lawrence, Kansas 66044.
Vice-Chairman Welch welcomed everyone to the meeting and discussed the role of the Lawrence Human Relations Commission as an advisory body to the Lawrence City Commission.
Approval of Minutes
Vice-Chairman Welch asked the commissioners if there were any additions or changes on the minutes from the February 19, 2015 meeting, there were none. Commissioner McClure motioned that the minutes be approved, it was seconded by Commissioner Welch, and all voted in favor.
Commission Elections
Elections for the Human Relations Commission for Chair and Vice-Chair took place. Staff noted that Chairman Criqui will not be eligible for another term as chair. His 2nd term appointment to the commission expires in September. Commissioner Dunn put forth the name of Commissioner Welch for chair. This motion was seconded by Commissioner Edwards. All voted in favor. Commissioner Edwards expressed interest in serving a Vice-Chair. A motion was made by Chairman Welch and seconded by Commissioner McClure for Commissioner Edwards as Vice-Chair. All voted in favor.
Receive Staff Report
Case Report Update – There is currently one case open. It is a housing case/disability issue – refusal to allow a reasonable accommodation. There was a finding of probable cause. Attempts to conciliate the case are on-going.
Staff Updates
Scott Wagner mentioned that the City Attorney’s office has a new administrative support person – her name is Aliza Caldwell. She will assist in supporting the work of the commission as needed.
Training Opportunities
Information was distributed about an upcoming fair housing training conference. Region VII of HUD is sponsoring a training session to be held June 2 – June 4 at the Kansas City, Kansas regional offices. Elizabeth Hafoka plans to attend. Human Relations commissioners may also attend.
Outreach Activities
Scott Wagner reported on outreach activities since the last meeting.
The first Fair Housing Month Art and Poster contest was a success. Over 80 entries were received. Copies of the winning entries were displayed at the meeting. Danica Moore of USD497 was of great assistance in helping with the success of the project. The Lawrence-Douglas County Housing Authority also helped with judging of the entries and selecting finalists and winners.
Finalists were displayed at the Lawrence Public Library from April 5 to April 14, 2015. Winning entries were selected by the subcommittee for each grade level and were recognized before the City Commission at their meeting on April 28, 2015. Chairman Scott Criqui attended the meeting and assisted the Mayor and Vice-Mayor in recognizing the winning entries. The winning entries are below:
High School
1st Place - Nia Rutledge, grade 11, Lawrence High
2nd Place – Nina Friesen, grade 12, Lawrence High
3rd Place – Macy Sutter, grade 11, Lawrence High
Honorable Mention – Kearston Mohney, grade 12, Lawrence High
Middle School
1st Place – Ashley Dykes, grade 8, South Middle School
2nd Place – Tena Hicks, grade 7, Liberty Memorial Central Middle School
3rd Place – Zora Lotton-Barker, grade 6, Liberty Memorial Central Middle School
Honorable Mention – Harriette Perkins, grade 6, Liberty Memorial Central Middle School
Grade School
1st Place – MD Nihal Abrar Rashid, Grade 4, Hillcrest
2nd Place – Isabella Bobey, Grade 1, Deerfield
3rd Place – Josephine Dee, Grade 4, New York
Honorable Mention – Silvia Liu, Grade 4, St. John’s Catholic School
Other Fair Housing Month activities included a proclamation before the Lawrence City Commission which recognized April as Fair Housing Month. Chairman Criqui attended the commission meeting on April 21, 2015 to receive the proclamation from the commission. Tweets about Fair Housing Month were sent out from the City’s twitter account. Information was also displayed on Cable Channel 25. There was also information in the City’s monthly newsletter – the “Flame”, which was distributed to over 33,000 utility customers of the city.
The City also helped to sponsor a Fair Housing Month luncheon in partnership with the Lawrence-Douglas County Housing Authority and Landlords of Lawrence. The topic was an overview of Fair Housing and Accessibility and Advocacy and was presented by James Jordan of the Disability Rights Center of Kansas. The lunch was held April 21 at the housing authority, 1600 Haskell Avenue and was well attended.
50th Anniversary of Lawrence Fair Housing Ordinance
Scott Wagner passed out copies of City of Lawrence Ordinance No. 3749 which was adopted July 18, 1967. It created Fair Housing civil rights protections in Lawrence. This ordinance pre-dated the adoption of the federal Fair Housing Act which occurred in April of 1968. Staff wanted the commission to be aware of the date of this ordinance in case the commission wanted to recognize and celebrate the 50th anniversary of the law which will take place in 2017.
Project Updates
Scott Wagner provided an update on the production of an outreach video for the commission. Through A Glass Productions began shooting video the week of May 18. A rough cut of the video should be available in June. It is expected that the final product will be finished in late July or early August. Chairman Criqui participated in the video on behalf of the commission. The company has been good to work with and the commission should be pleased with the final product.
Commission Items
Chairman Welch opened discussion regarding the time and place of the commission meetings. It was discussed that the meetings were moved to the evening in order to increase the ability of the public to attend. The first evening meeting took place in August of 2014. Discussion among the commission took place about the merits of daytime versus evening meetings. It was decided that the evening meeting time would continue for the time being.
Kansas Open Meetings Act
Scott Wagner presented a PowerPoint presentation prepared by City Attorney and Human Relations Director Toni Wheeler on the Kansas Open Meetings Act.
Public Comment
There was no public comment.
Adjournment
Commissioner Edwards motioned and Commissioner Taylor seconded for adjournment, all voted in favor to adjourn at 6:20 P.M.