Minutes - 4.2.19Richfield Human Rights Commission
Monthly Meeting Minutes
April 2nd, 2019
Members Present: Brett Stursa, Heather Eastlund, Bob Mulcahy, Katie Goodemote, Carrie
Chillman, Michele Thompson, Sarah Musgrave, Kris Anderson, Todd Diede, Tasha
Ostendorf
Public Safety Liaison: Mike Flaherty
City Council Liaison: Simon Trautmann
School Board Liaison: Tim Pollis
1.Meeting called to order by Chair Brett Stursa at 6:30pm.
2.Motion to approve Agenda: Chillman/seconded Musgrave; motion carried.
3.Motion to approve Minutes: Anderson/seconded Eastlund, motion carried.
4.Open Public comment: None
5.New Business
a.2019 work plan: Flaherty spoke of importance of housing as an issue in Richfield,
suggesting we could host a workshop for managers and/or tenants. Or maybe
provide training on dealing with mental illness among tenants. Stursa noted that
she had reached out to Richfield Foundation to find out flexibility in terms of grant
received last year. Trautmann noted that he is on the Foundation board and that
we likely have some flexibility (no contract) but it would be great to ask them to
approve of any changes in our approach. Eastlund, Diede, Anderson, Mulcahy,
Chillman, and Stursa volunteered to be a committee to look at housing rights
education.
i.Proclamation (Stursa, Mulcahy, Chillman): ADA next target; will meet April
14th at 11am at Lakewinds.
ii.Naturalization Ceremony (Eastlund, Stursa): Diede, Anderson, Thompson
also volunteered.
iii.Richfield Foundation grant events: See above
iv.Penn Fest: Chillman volunteered and spoke of attempting partnership
with Arts Commission. Goodemote and Stursa/Musgrave volunteered for
planning.
v.Richfield Library events (Mulcahy, Musgrave): On hold
vi.Gender neutral bathroom (Musgrave, Stursa, Eastlund): Ongoing
vii.2020 census/Complete Count: Trautmann will keep us informed on city
efforts. Chillman volunteered to be involved, along with Eastlund, Diede,
Musgrave, Anderson, and Ostendorf. City will lead but we can participate.
Eastlund suggested that census messaging could potentially be worked
into any tenant workshop efforts. Flaherty to reach out to find current
status of city efforts and report back, especially if they have a specific ask
of the HRC.
viii.Renaming of Columbus Day: Advocacy for change to Indigenous Peoples
Day. Would need to work toward resolution. Trautmann expressed
support. What would be administrative impact on city? Would be helpful to
see what other cities have done. Stursa volunteered to lead this. Diede
and Ostendorf volunteered to help.
ix.HRC History project (Mulcahy): We are in HRC’s 50th anniversary year.
Trautmann suggested that it could be helpful to let the mayor know for the
upcoming state of the community event. Mulcahy to send. Anderson
suggested this might be something we celebrate at Penn Fest. Mulcahy to
continue to work with city on accessing HRC’s records pre-2016, copying
Trautmann on communications.
x.Redlining in Richfield/speaker: Mapping project in final stages. Partner
with Bloomington? Mappingpredjudice.org HRC Commissioners to check
out website before next meeting.
6.Unfinished Business
a.Gender neutral bathrooms (Musgrave, Stursa, Eastlund): Communication sent to
Katie Rodriguez to help the city create a council memo. This communication had
these asks of the city:
We ask that the city review each City of Richfield building to determine if a single
stall restroom can be changed to a non-gender designation.
We ask that as the city builds new facilities that it consider including a gender
neutral, single user restroom when feasible.
We ask that the city encourage businesses in Richfield to designate single user
restrooms with a gender neutral designation where the building code allows it.
We ask that the city encourage developers to designate as many single stall
restrooms as gender neutral as possible when developing new properties.
We ask that once the 2018 Minnesota Building Code takes effect in 2020 that the
city encourage all businesses to convert all existing single stall restrooms to a
gender neutral designation.
b.Outstanding Citizen Award (Stursa, Goodemote): Submitted brief to SunCurrent.
No nominations yet. Working toward sharing in social media. Spread the word!
c.2019 Events Planning:
i.Storytime at Augsburg (Mulcahy, Musgrave): On hold
ii.Proclamation team (Stursa, Eastlund, Mulcahy): See above.
7.Reports:
a.Chair’s report: 1. State of the Community is APril 11. 2. Veterans Park Clean Up
is on the 23rd. (Wear your t-shirts!)
b.Secretary’s report: No report.
c.Vice Chair’s report: No report.
d.City Council Liaison report: Thank you, especially for proclamation at city council
meeting.
e.School Board Liaison report: Budgeting time.
f.Public Safety Liaison report: No report.
8.Announcements/Open Forum: HRC should have a contact list (e.g., community
organizations, other commission chairs, former commissioners). Goodemote to pick this
up with Stursa. Once established, becomes secretary’s responsibility to maintain.
Musgrave pointed out Working Homeless speaker coming up.
9.Next meeting: May 7th, 2019, 6:30pm
10.Motion for adjournment: Heather/seconded Musgrave, motion carried. Meeting
adjourned at 7:43pm.
Submitted by Bob Mulcahy 4/3/19