2020-08 minutesRichfield Human Rights Commission
Monthly Meeting Minutes
August 4, 2020
Members Present: Heather Eastlund, Katie Goodemote, Michele Thompson, Todd
Diede, Tasha Ostendorf, Ava Noack, Hannah Milton, Kris Anderson, Carrie Chillman
Public Safety Liaison: Mike Flaherty
City Council Liaison: Mary Supple
School Board Liaison: none
Note: meeting held via WebEx
1. Meeting called to order by Vice Chair Eastlund at 6:36pm.
2. Motion to approve Agenda: Anderson/Chillman seconded, motion carried.
3. Motion to approve July Minutes: Anderson/Chillman seconded, motion carried.
4. Open Public comment: none
5. Reports:
a. Chair’s report: none
b. Vice Chair’s report: none
c. Secretary’s report: none
d. School Board Liaison report:
e. City Council Liaison report: The city is trying to figure out ways to encourage
community engagement during the COVID-19 pandemic. Council member
Supple asked for ideas on doing so. Also mentioned that the Richfield PD
policies, including the use of force policy, are now on the city website
f. Public Safety Liaison report: none
6. New Business
a. Chair election: Chair Brett Stursa has resigned from the HRC to take a position
with the planning commission. Nominations for a new chair were taken. Vice
Chair Eastlund was nominated. A vote was held and Eastlund was elected. Her
term as chair will extend through January 2021.
b. Vice Chair election: Nominations to replace Eastlund as vice chair were taken.
Anderson was nominated and elected. Her term as vice chair will extend through
January 2021.
c. Police use of force data summarized by race/ethnicity: The available data covers
only 2017 and 2018. Deputy Chief Flaherty said the department’s goal is to have
the data for 2019 and 2020 available by the end of this year. Flaherty shared
some analysis of the currently available data that has been done. Flaherty also
described the Vitals program, which allows Richfield officers to have access to
information about certain individuals to improve interactions with police.
Additionally, an FAQ regarding the Richfield Police Department will soon be
posted on the city website, addressing topics such as body cameras, department
diversity, etc.
d. Housing committee: Initiative is still in progress. More to come at next HRC
meeting.
e. Penn Fest: Penn Fest has been canceled for 2020.
f. ADA anniversary proclamation recap: Supple gave a recap of the proclamation
reading. Ostendorf and Judy Moe from Richfield Disability Advocacy Partnership
(RDAP) spoke at the council meeting. Ostendorf noted that two recent city
surveys did not ask questions regarding disabilities, while there were questions
regarding gender and race.
g. 100th anniversary of 19th amendment proclamation: Flaherty will check when
this is scheduled to be read at a council meeting.
h. Partnerships: Discussion was held about how the HRC can be more involved
with the Activities of other Richfield Commissions and community groups.
Eastlund moved to add this initiative to the 2020 work plan and work to formalize
guidelines/Ostendorf seconded. Motion carried.
7. Unfinished Business
a. Naturalization ceremony: more information to come in October
b. Census: the city has mentioned three areas in which the HRC can help with the
census: (1) phone bank; (2) social media posts; (3) hard to count tracts. Diede
moved to make the census phone bank an HRC initiative/seconded Eastlund,
motion carried. Diede will reach out to Blanca Martinez Gavina to get information
on phone bank training and shift scheduling.
8. Announcements/Open Forum: Thompson mentioned that a Minnesota court ruled that
no witness signature will be necessary for absentee ballots in the 2020 general election.
This is the final meeting for the current youth commissioners. They were thanked for
their service.
9. Next meeting September 1, 2020 (via WebEx)
10. Motion for adjournment: Anderson/Diede seconded, motion carried. Meeting adjourned
at 8:07pm.
Submitted by Todd Diede 8/6/2020