JUNE 16, 2005

ATTENDANCE: Dr. Barbara Amodio, Chair; Bea Brown, Rahoul Dupervil, Dr. Sally Grose, Reverend Douglas Nissing, Gerald Ross, Dr. Charles Stabinsky,

Sara Sikes, Vicky Su

OTHERS PRESENT: Mayor Knopp, Ed Schmidt, Pastor Lindsay Curtis, Elisabeth Youngerman, Elizabeth Gibbs, Maricarmen Godoy, El Sol News, Robert Koch, The Norwalk Hour

STAFF: Larry Patterson, Field Representative

CALL TO ORDER

Dr. Amodio called the meeting to order at 7:40 p.m.

WELCOME AND INTRODUCTION OF GUESTS AND MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC

- Mr. Richard Booth, Chairperson of the Fair Rent Commission

- Finalist Candidate for Executive Director’s position

- Mayor Alex Knopp

Dr. Amodio announced that Richard Booth was unable to attend tonight’s meeting.

Dr. Amodio asked the members of the public present to introduce themselves. She stated that Elisabeth Youngerman, the finalist candidate for the Executive Director’s position was also present tonight.

Mayor Knopp announced that he was recommending Ms. Youngerman as the Executive Director of Human Relations. He read his statement (attached). Overall, he was happy to introduce her and he felt that she will be a superb director.

Dr. Amodio expressed that she didn’t think Ms. Youngerman was another Sonja Devitt, but she was just as good in her own right. She stated it was a lot of work going through applications and the process a second time. But she felt it worked out. She further expressed that Ms. Youngerman had an interesting background and her experience included speaking Spanish as well as a Central American Indian language. She also has a cross-cultural background that will be helpful. Overall, she was very impressed with Ms. Youngerman. She also mentioned the writing pieces Ms. Youngerman has done and it was no doubt that she will be excellent in the position by sharing in the humanitarian rights on the committee and by helping to guide the community. She further noted the interviewing process was a good experience and very thorough.

Mayor Knopp left the meeting at 7:50 p.m.

There were introductions around the table from the commissioner’s who briefly highlighted their backgrounds and affiliations.

A question and answer session followed for the new Executive Director, Elizabeth Youngerman:

Commissioner Bea Brown stated that she felt the new director would work out well just by observing her persona. She asked Ms. Youngerman how she perceived herself working in Norwalk since she lived in Hamden.
Ms. Youngerman said Norwalk wasn’t that different from Hamden, in that it is also a diverse city. She said she would be looking for guidance about what’s important with the community groups in the city. She relayed that she expected to reach out to the various community groups to learn about issues present in the city. But again, she stated there were similarities among the two cities.

Commissioner Vicky Su said she thought Ms. Youngerman had an impressive background. She asked her what motivated her to move into the private sector as an attorney.
Ms. Youngerman said she went to a northeastern law school university, where she worked for a prestigious law firm in Boston. But she always tried to do a variety of jobs based on how important they were to her. However, she only worked at the law office for three months.

Dr. Stabinsky asked Ms. Youngerman if she had a license to practice law in Connecticut.
Ms. Youngerman replied yes.

Dr. Stabinsky asked if the City of Norwalk obtained any recommendations from any of her previous supervisors. Ms. Youngerman said she thought they did.

Dr. Stabinsky asked her what ACF stood for as it was outlined in her resume. Ms. Youngerman explained it stood for Annie’s College Fund” named after her daughter. She further explained she has worked on varied projects such as mutual housing doing strategic planning that develops affordable housing. She also trained residents on fair housing issues. So anything to do with housing in Connecticut, ACS has worked with.

Dr. Stabinsky asked how clients come to her. Ms. Youngerman said people generally call in with an issue. Due to the specialty of the job, people tend to know who they are.

Dr. Stabinsky asked why she was leaving her current job. Ms. Youngerman said she wasn’t actively looking to leave her job, but people sent her the job description and she thought it was an unusual commission, in that Norwalk addresses issues to the extent they do. She felt it was important to work in a place where people have the same interest at heart.

Dr. Stabinsky asked if after August, when she comes on board in the new position, will she still be a part-time person at her current position. Ms. Youngerman said no.

Commissioner Gerald Ross asked Ms. Youngerman if she had any specific experience with community groups or with people in Norwalk.
Ms. Youngerman said no, except for the mutual housing projects.

Commissioner Ross confirmed that she was starting from scratch learning about the various sectors of the city. Ms. Youngerman said yes.

Commissioner Nissing asked what she foresaw creating for herself by taking on the position.
Ms. Youngerman said when she looked at the job description; she thought it was a rich job. The position highlighted the creation of programs and doing outreach, but she thought it would be a collaborative process. She further spoke to the hope of meeting with everyone and doing some homework to obtain names of people in the community. And from there, she could devise a short term plan. But choices made will have to be responsive to the interest of the commission and the community.

Commissioner Nissing asked what hooked her personally to take the job. Ms. Youngerman said she thought it was a very exciting process. She reiterated that she hadn’t seen any other city do what Norwalk does in respect to Human Relations.

Commissioner Brown said that sometimes they have to elicit funds for specific needs. She asked if she would write and request grants as needed. Ms. Youngerman said she thought that was a great idea, especially for education and outreach programs if there is a possibility of getting grants. She stated she has written many grant applications in the past.

Dr. Amodio asked Ms. Youngerman to comment on a program she designed and implemented. She noted Ms. Youngerman was also an artist and she asked her about a cartooning program that she initiated that was geared toward children. Ms. Youngerman said the gist of the idea was to review material having to do with teaching tolerance. One thing discussed was looking at stereotypes and how to understand getting past that. She wrote a grant application which was funded for youth to create comic books and cartoons, pointing out the stereotypes in them; that information was used as a basis a program in diversity training.

Commissioner Dupervil asked Ms. Youngerman what her expectations were from the commission to help her succeed in the job. Ms. Youngerman said the job description was full. But the most important part is the collaboration of the commission and staff. She expressed that what happens, ultimately comes from the community and input from the commission. But there are so many facets to the position, so she thought she would need to take a pro-active role to help her define the position from the beginning.

Commissioner Brown asked if she saw a problem separating cases of Fair Rent matters from Human Relations matters, in that the statistics of each are very different. Ms. Youngerman said she didn’t see a problem. However, she said she noticed from past minutes there were many more complaints regarding Fair Rent issues.

Commissioner Brown asked if she had a complaint the Human Relations Commission couldn’t handle and she went to the Fair Housing Commission, would she have a problem working with them. Ms. Youngerman said no.

Dr. Amodio stated she expected Ms. Youngerman would stay apprised of current Human Relations law, in view of the fact that she was an attorney.

Dr. Amodio asked her how she felt about working with the two commissions. Ms. Youngerman responded that a piece of doing this would be to know what the commission’s role was and what procedures they’re in charge of. Also, what can be put into form for educational outreach.

Commissioner Grose spoke about the issue of blatant discrimination and racial problems among certain groups in the city. She stressed that the commission would look to Ms. Youngerman to educate the commission and community on those matters.

Commissioner Dupervil said he believed the commissioners would have to sit down with Ms. Youngerman and figure out steps the commission should take by setting priorities and goals. And from there, Ms. Youngerman would have a better idea of where she’s going.

Commissioner Ross stated that he realized it would take time for Ms. Youngerman to acclimate herself in the position that will be done through a grace period. He expressed that he planned to be as supportive as possible.

Commissioner Nissing acknowledged that Ms. Youngerman’s application came to the top out of (162) applications. He said he trusted the process of reviewing resumes and conducting interviews, so he celebrated the fact that she was at the top of the list. Overall, he said there was a good feeling of her moving forward in the position.

** COMMISSIONER STABINSKY MOVED THAT THE HUMAN RELATIONS COMMISSION ACCEPT THE RECOMMENDATION OF THE MAYOR FOR THE NOMINATION OF DIRECTOR OF HUMAN RELATIONS, WITH THE URGING THAT THE COMMISSION GIVE THEIR FULL SUPPORT TO THE NEW DIRECTOR

** COMMISSIONER NISSING SECONDED

Mr. Schmidt pointed out that the approval of the recommendation wasn’t on the agenda. He suggested a motion be made to suspend the rules to add the item to the agenda.

** COMMISSIONER SIKES MOVED TO SUSPEND THE RULES TO ADD AN ACTION ITEM TO THE AGENDA

** COMMISSIONER ROSS SECONDED

** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY

** COMMISSIONER STABINSKY MOVED THAT THE HUMAN RELATIONS COMMISSOIN ACCEPT THE RECOMMENDATION OF THE MAYOR FOR THE NOMINATION OF DIRECTOR OF HUMAN RELATIONS, WITH THE URGING THAT THE COMMISSION GIVE THEIR FULL SUPPORT TO THE NEW DIRECTOR.

** COMMISSIONER NISSING SECONDED

** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY

*Dr. Amodio noted that Commissioner Mann also approved of the recommendation on the basis of

an hour long telephone call prior to the meeting.

Commissioner Ross left the meeting at 8:35 p.m.

Dr. Amodio commented that she planned on coordinating an informal get together at her home to welcome Ms. Youngerman. Details will be given at a later date.

ACCEPTANCE OF THE MINUTES – MAY 19, 2005

Page 1

1st paragraph under Chairperson’s Report, the name Ciccarillo should be spelled Ciccarello

Page

2nd paragraph under Fair Housing Advisory Commission Liaison’s Report should read, Mr. Dupervil said that he had not seen any Human Relations discrimination issues showing up in Fair Housing cases.

** COMMISSIONER SIKES MOVED TO ACCEPT THE MINUTES AS CORRECTED

** COMMISSIONER BROWN SECONDED

** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY

OLD BUSINESS

Update on Status of Director Search/Finalist Interview: Barbara Amodio

Update on Status of Bilingual Secretary Search: Barbara Amodio

It was stated that these matters were still pending for additional information.

NEW BUSINESS

Report of Tree Plaque Subcommittee: Dr. Charles Stabinsky, Sarah Mann
Reports of Other Standing Subcommittees as Available
Offer from Member of the Public to form a Disabilities Advisory Committee

Dr. Amodio said she attended the Fair Housing luncheon and it was very informative. She said it was stressed that housing access was not only an ADA issue, but also a civil rights issue. She said they did a number of workshops for the public and the city on ADA to become accessible.

She noted there was a desire expressed by an attorney at the luncheon to set up an ADA subcommittee of the Commission again. And if they reestablished this, they will need to give some thought to it.

Commissioner Gross asked how they would approach the condition of Norwalk vis a vis human relations and race relations, i.e., a sort of State of City address that could be beneficial to Ms. Youngerman. Commissioner Brown said she thought that speaking to Ms. Youngerman on an individual basis would steer that along. But she didn’t feel it was something that could be discussed as a whole at this time.

Dr. Amodio agreed. She said that with everyone’s diverse contacts in the community, the one-on-one process should work.

Commissioner Nissing had the idea of possibly scheduling some time towards the end of the summer for a Saturday retreat to spend a period of time to come together and discuss the State of the City.

Commissioner Sikes said it was a good idea to do a survey and invite community groups to gather data on the State of the City. Also, she said she would like to see a strategic plan updated that could be followed.

Ms. Youngerman agreed strategic planning was a good process. And the idea of doing a survey gives good publicity that could result in putting together all the information to plan a retreat. Dr. Amodio said in essence, they would create a massive needs assessment. She noted all the commissioner’s should bring some contacts from the community with them

Ms. Gross expressed the possibilities were limitless for change and contributions to make Norwalk an outstanding community. Dr. Amodio agreed.

FAIR HOUSING COMMISSION LIAISON REPORT : Rahoul Dupervil

No new updates.

CHAIRLADY’S REPORT: Barbara Amodio

It was noted this item was covered under New Business.

FIELD REPRESENTATIVE’S REPORT: Larry Patterson

Statistics, Intake & Cumulative Log Sheets
Office & Field Procedures

Mr. Patterson said he didn’t have any information, but he expected he would have something to report next month.

EXECUTIVE SESSION FOR CASE REVIEW

No reviews for updating.

ADJOURNED

** COMMISSIONER DUPERVIL MADE A MOTION TO ADJOURN

** COMMISSIONER SU SECONDED

** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY

The meeting was adjourned at 9:00 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Diane Graham

Telesco Secretarial Services

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