2020-09 minutesRichfield Human Rights Commission
Monthly Meeting Minutes
September 1, 2020
Members Present: Heather Eastlund, Katie Goodemote, Michele Thompson, Todd
Diede, Kris Anderson, Carrie Chillman, Mara Glubka
Public Safety Liaison: Mike Flaherty
City Council Liaison: Mary Supple
Note: meeting held via WebEx
1. Meeting called to order by Chair Eastlund at 6:33pm.
2. Motion to approve Agenda: Anderson/Thompson seconded, motion carried.
3. Motion to approve July Minutes: Thompson/Glubka seconded, motion carried.
4. Open Public comment: none
5. Reports:
a. Chair’s report: Received a handwritten note from a community member who is
upset about noise levels in her area due to an ongoing construction project and
wanted to make the Human Rights Commission aware.
b. Vice Chair’s report: none
c. Secretary’s report: none
d. School Board Liaison report: none
e. City Council Liaison report: Night to Unite, which had previously been postponed,
is canceled for 2020. Also noted that school is starting next week.
f. Public Safety Liaison report: none
6. New Business
a. Housing committee: Food will be delivered to Richfield Towers along with census
and voting information on September 17.
b. 100th anniversary of 19th amendment proclamation recap: Eastlund attended the
proclamation reading, along with a member of the League of Women Voters.
Mayor Regan-Gonzalez spoke at length and it was a very positive celebration of
the right to vote.
c. Revisit/revise work plan in light of COVID-19: Eastlund noted that many of the
items on the HRC’s 2020 work plan have been altered or canceled due to the
COVID-19 pandemic, and asked whether members had ideas for additional items
to add. A decision was to use the remainder of the year to focus on examining
the mission of the HRC in order to lay a foundation for the future, work on the
partnership effort and census, and figure out how to become a more inclusive
and diverse commission.
d. Partnerships: Anderson asked HRC members to think about what the goals of
this effort should be and it will be discussed at the next meeting. She will send
out a survey to the group prior to the meeting. Potential goals may include
making the HRC aware of what other organizations in the community are doing
and also raising awareness of the HRC within those organizations. Also noted
was a desire to increase diversity within the HRC. Suggestions were made to
force diversity by creating roles within the HRC for members of specific
communities, which would require a change to the bylaws. Deputy Chief Flaherty
noted that Richfield is in the process of hiring an Equity and Inclusion
Coordinator, who may be able to assist in these efforts.
e. Census: The training and phone bank schedule was sent out after the last
meeting. No members have been able to make the available times work as of
yet.
f. Moving November meeting due to general election: Motion to move the
November meeting to Thursday, November 5 at 6:30pm by Glubka /Diede
seconded, motion carried
7. Announcements/Open Forum:
8. Next meeting: October 6, 2020 (via WebEx)
9. Motion for adjournment: Glubka/Chillman seconded, motion carried. Meeting adjourned
at 7:28pm.
Submitted by Todd Diede 9/25/2020