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Human
Relations Commission
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AUGUST 17, 2006
ATTENDANCE: Dr. Barbara Amodio, Chairwoman; Rahoul Dupervil, Vice Chair;
Bea Brown; Gerald Ross; Carol Frank; Sarah Mann; Dr. Charles
Stabinsky (7:36 p.m.); Dr. Sally Grose (7:36 p.m.);
STAFF: Elisabeth Youngerman
OTHER:
CALL TO ORDER
Dr. Amodio called the meeting to order at 7:35 p.m. and announced there was a quorum.
Dr. Stabinsky and Dr. Grose arrived at 7:36 p.m.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF JULY MEETING
Ms. Youngerman provided copies of the revised minutes with the corrections she made. They are as follows:
On page 1, under CHAIRLADY’S REPORT, and throughout the document, the word “Columbian” should be changed to “Colombian”.
On page 2, under DIRECTOR’S REPORT, 2nd paragraph, 3rd sentence, add the “past intake” before the word “cases”.
On page 2, under DIRECTOR’S REPORT, 2nd paragraph, 4th sentence, it should read: “She mentioned that for housing, there is no legal services office in Norwalk. Therefore, the office receives a lot of landlord tenant law questions”.
On page 2, under DIRECTOR’S REPORT, 3rd paragraph, 1st sentence, add “Jacarusso” after “Stella”.
On page 2, under DIRECTOR’S REPORT, 6th paragraph, 4th sentence, it should read: “Ms. Monique Cipriano, the former intern, did a good job with researching the Directory.”
On page 3, 1st paragraph, 1st sentence, it should read: “She said Human Relations still has $2,000 in the 2005-06 budget remaiing from last year’s budget.”
On page 3, under OLD BUSINESS, Diversity Program, 3rd sentence, change the words “are now” to “have expressed interest in being”.
** MR. ROSS MOVED TO APPROVE THE MINUTES AS REVISED.
** MS. FRANK SECONDED.
** MOTION PASSED WITH THREE (3) ABSTENTIONS (BROWN, MANN, DR. AMODIO).
CHAIRLADY’S REPORT
Dr. Amodio said she has met recently with some people who have been involved
with human trafficking at the federal level. She mentioned the recent story
in Norwalk, and Stamford, of the massage parlor crackdowns. There is a possibility
for some components for International Human Rights Day. She will have more information
after a meeting next week.
DIRECTOR’S REPORT
Ms. Youngerman said July was a busy month. There was one new ADA complaint, but that was the extent for anything beyond simple intakes for HR.
Ms. Stella Jacaruso, the intern from UCONN, will stay with them through the Fall. She has been working on the ADA transition plan and doing outreach for the Diversity Education Program.
The follow-up with CHRO included her going to an investigators training session in Meriden. She said there will be another session on September 26, 27, and 28 (not a three-day attendance requirement), and she reserved some space for the Commissioners if they wished to attend. The training involved understanding the credibility of the respondent as well as the complainant. She will email the dates and some information on the training to the Commissioners.
The website is now in its new form, and there is a reference to the Diversity Program.
The Spanish language directory is being printed and will be distributed next week. Mr. Dupervil said that the Creole version of the directory will be completed after the Spanish directory is distributed. She said that Ms. Schilling from the Health Department, who is also a coordinator for Kids Start Smart paid for the translation. At the last meeting, the Commission had allocated the remaining money from last year’s budget to cover the cost of printing the Spanish directory. The cost of the Creole version printing will cost about $500 and will be taken out of this year’s budget.
The City departments have been returning their ADA questionnaires. They are waiting for a few more, and the draft plan should be ready by the end of September.
The Save the Date flyers for the Community Diversity Program have been mailed out. The presenters will present the information to the Commissioners at the meeting in September, which will be from 7:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.
Ms. Youngerman confirmed for Ms. Mann that there is information on ESL in the Spanish directory.
Dr. Stabinsky asked about the status of the ADA investigation into city-owned
properties. Ms. Youngerman said the information she gave to the Commission in
July is the latest information she has. She said they took all the information
from the 1992-93 review that Mr. Resnick did. They then took all the city-owned
properties that are on the current list, and added what was remaining to be
fixed from the 1992-93 list to the current list. The committee is ready to reconvene
soon. It was mentioned that this is a huge undertaking for the Commission and
is a great benefit to the City. Some discussion followed regarding the ADA requirements.
It was suggested that Ms. Suib from the Fair Housing Authority be contacted
for information, as she had previously run a similar program.
STATISTICS
Ms. Youngerman said the statistics are on a separate sheet following her report.
OLD BUSINESS
Diversity Program
Ms. Youngerman said that she and Mr. Dupervil met with Mr. Curtis Law to review the program. She suggested that the Commissioners contact her if they are interested in going with her to meet the people on the “Save the Date” list. Some discussion followed regarding the details of the program, setting up a rotating schedule for the Commissioners to attend the meetings, and outreach to the Community to make them more aware of the Commission and it’s role in the Community.
Ms. Youngerman clarified for the Commissioners that they are having the Diversity
Program at the September meeting which will be open to the public for them to
observe. Prior to the September meeting, she will circulate a list of leaders
in the Community that received the Save the Date information for the Diversity
Program in December that she plans to meet with so that a Commissioner can attend
with her. Another idea was to have an informal presentation by the Commissioners
and the Staff to inform the Community of the services the Human Relations Commissions
provides.
Dr. Stabinsky suggested that they set up a committee to draft a proposal for
the informal presentation plan, and Mr. Dupervil, Ms. Mann, Dr. Grose and Dr.
Amodio agreed to be on the subcommittee. It was suggested that they meet after
the September meeting.
NEW BUSINESS
Nominating Committee
Dr. Amodio said the annual meeting will be the third Thursday in September, according to the ordinance. Ms. Brown, Ms. Su and Ms. Mann have agreed to serve again on the Committee. She asked that any of the Commissioners call her if they are interested in being an alternate.
Human Rights Day
Dr. Amodio said that per the agreement last year, the school portion of the event will be at the Center for Global Studies at Brien McMahon High School. She explained that International Human Rights Day is always on December 10, but due to scheduling conflicts with the calendar and the schools, the entire month of December is now proclaimed as Human Rights Month. An evergreen tree is always planted as part of the ceremony.
FIELD REPRESENTATIVE REPORT OR STATUS
Ms. Youngerman said there was no report available. She handled 6 Human Relations intakes during July. Mr. Patterson conducts the physical inspections for the housing, and she said he will be attending the training in September.
Dr. Amodio asked about the 68 CHRO cases that were filed from Norwalk. Ms. Youngerman explained that as mentioned in previous meetings, there is no mechanism in place for referrals. She said they will continue keeping the public informed of the Commissions’ presence in the Community.
Some discussion followed regarding ensuring that employees receive proper training so that they can perform the job responsibilities they are hired for.
ADJOURNMENT
** MS. BROWN MOVED TO ADJOURN.
** MR. DUPERVIL SECONDED.
** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:45 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Carolyn Marr
Telesco Secretarial Services
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