CITY OF NORWALK
HUMAN RELATIONS COMMISSION
AUGUST 16TH, 2007

ATTENDANCE: Commissioners: Bea Brown, Vice-Chair; Daisy Franklin; Rahoul Dupervil; Charles Stabinsky; Vicky Su; Barbara Amodio; Carol Frank

STAFF: Adam D. Bovilsky, Director

1. CALL TO ORDER

The meeting was called to order at 7:33 p.m. by Ms. Brown.

2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES

a. July Special Meeting

The following corrections were submitted:

Page 9, first full paragraph: Ms. Franklin wanted her statement to be more complete so that “Ms. Franklin thanked the chief for attending and commended his work with 3-D Seminars saying that she was glad that the department employee manual would be updated” would be replaced with “Ms. Franklin agreed with Ms. Frank that the Human Relations Commission had agreed that they would not do anything until they heard the results from the Committee. She complimented the fire chief for coming and sharing with them and said that she was glad that there would be changes to the policies and procedures in the manual concerning racism and ongoing training with 3-D Seminars. She said that she hoped that the other issues that had come up during this process concerning the firefighters would be addressed. Ms. Franklin said that yes, racism existed everywhere but that she did not feel that the Fire Department as a whole was racist adding that a few individuals were, but that such individuals could be found everywhere. She said that she lived in Roodner Court, a poor area and that whenever there was any fire alarm, the Norwalk Fire Department responded and did a good job. She said that they were not rude and she did not feel any racism from the firefighters or their service.”

** MS. FRANKLIN MOVED TO ACCEPT THE MINUTES OF THE JULY 9th SPECIAL MEETING AS AMENDED.
** MS. FRANK SECONDED.
** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

b. July Regular Meeting

The following corrections were submitted:

? Page 1 under Attendance: “Vice-Chair” should be added after “Bea Brown”.
? Page 5 under Statistics: “CHR” should be changed to “CHRO”
? Page 8: delete the 8th paragraph, which begins, “Ms. Su said…”
? Page 10: “Mr. Bovilsky said that he’d meet with here…” should be changed to “Mr. Bovilsky said that he’d meet with her…”
? “Mr. Dupervil said that there was a Diversity Committee that was formed in the past and could be formed again”

** DR. AMODIO MOVED TO ACCEPT THE MINUTES OF THE JULY 19th MEETING AS AMENDED.
** MR. DUPERVIL SECONDED.
** MOTION PASSED WITH ONE ABSTENTION: MS. FRANK.

3. CHAIRPERSON’S REPORT

Ms. Brown said the Human Relations Commission had always held their meetings at City Hall in room 231 but that she thought that perhaps they could go to some of the housing projects and hold meetings there with the permission from the Presidents of those housing projects. She said that Washington Village, Colonial Village and other developments had community rooms and that having meetings at these places would help the community get to know the Commission and its Director and familiarize them with what the Commission does and where one could go if one had a complaint.

Dr. Stabinsky asked Ms. Brown if she would also be in favor of going to Broad River, Silver Mine and Cranbury.

Ms. Brown answered that she would and that sometime in the future they could also hold meetings in the neighborhood churches since they all had meeting halls as well.

Mr. Bovilsky said that he’d just checked and saw nothing in the City Code or the Commission’s Bylaws that prevented them from doing this if they so chose. He read the following aloud, “All meetings of the Commission shall be held at such place within the city of Norwalk, CT and shall be designated in the notice of the meeting,” adding that it didn't seem to limit the location of a meeting beyond the boundaries of the City.

Ms. Brown suggested that perhaps they would get a better response from the community if they went to other places.

Ms. Su said that she thought that this was a terrific idea but that the reality of the situation was that the developments that could provide space had to make sure that they had liability insurance to cover an outside party meeting on their premises and that they also might have to hire security. She suggested speaking to the owners first about the idea to see if it was feasible for them. She added that though most of the Commissioners lived in Norwalk it may still be difficult for some of them to travel to different locations and that residents who wanted to attend their meetings expected them to always be in City Hall and so moving them could cause some confusion.
Ms. Frank said that if the Presidents of the Communities of the Housing Developments were each invited individually to sit at their meetings, they could say whatever they had to say and hear what the Commission does and then report back to their neighborhood associations.

Mr. Dupervil said the idea of visiting the various neighborhoods was a good one, but that there were many inconveniences to it.

Ms. Franklin said that she was almost in the same mind as the other Commissioners as far as having their meetings at City Hall but that she did want the Commission to reach out to the Community. She said that the Commission was supposed to have a newspaper article published that would let people know about the Human Relations Commission and that the Commission was supposed to be conducting community outreach and this would be another way to do that. Ms Franklin said that she lived at Roodner Court and that she could contact the Roodner Court Tenant Association with regard to this and the Commissioners and Mr. Bovilsky could attend the Tenant Association’s meeting and other neighborhood’s meetings as well. Ms Franklin felt that they had to assure the Community that they were active but didn’t like the idea of holding meetings all over Norwalk.

Dr. Amodio said that she thought that if the development had a community room, then surely they had umbrella coverage for people to meet there but that it was structurally and administratively difficult to hold meetings at other places. She said that perhaps occasionally meetings could be held elsewhere but not every one because people might not know where to find their meetings if they wished to attend. She said that if Mr. Bovilsky were to go out on occasion to their regular meeting nights some of the Commissioners could certainly accompany him, which would be a good way to establish some visibility in the community. Dr. Amodio said that in the past, they frequently invited people to attend their meetings and that they should again, adding that she thought that the various neighborhoods had an umbrella Tenants Association so that all members could be contacted through them.

Ms. Brown said that it was historically difficult to get people to attend their meetings and that they’d held meetings in neighborhoods before with no problems but that if security was an issue they could certainly ask for more police patrol. She also suggested several churches meetings could be held at, and told the Commission that they didn’t have to decide anything at this time but that she wanted people to think about it.

Dr. Amodio said that they should think about this suggestion and revisit it in the future and that she didn’t think it should be tabled forever. She wondered if a letter of invitation from Mr. Bovilsky on stationary might make a difference in encouraging people to attend their meetings

Ms. Brown said that she wasn’t looking for a vote but rather just wanted to present the Commission with something to think about that could perhaps be brought up again in the future.

4. DIRECTOR’S REPORT

Mr. Bovilsky submitted his report and reviewed it for the Commission. As part of this he reported that he would be reaching out to Margaret Suib and other lawyers in the community perhaps as far as Stamford and Bridgeport to find out why they’ve advised their clients to file complaints directly through the CHRO instead of through the Norwalk Human Relations Commission so that he could find out how to better promote the Commission.

Dr. Stabinsky said that it had been his experience that lawyers were never involved with anyone who brought a complaint to this Commission while they had Directors on staff and because of this he felt that Mr. Bovilsky’s focus to speak with legal professionals would not yield any answers as to why complainants went directly to the CHRO rather than Norwalk Human Relations.

Dr. Amodio added that she thought that normally, the Human Relations Office was the place for people to go to who didn't want to use an attorney, couldn't afford one or couldn't make it to the nearest CHRO satellite office.

Ms. Frank said she knew of a person with a grievance that went straight to the CHRO because they thought going to the HRC would just delay their claim process. She said that people figure they will end up at the CHRO anyway and so they just skip a step and go to them first.

Mr. Bovilsky said he’d been discussing this with his predecessor, Sonja Devitt who was able to show that by filing with the HRC first, one could get a decision from the HRC and then the CHRO was required to hear one’s case sooner because of that so that filing with the HRC first actually sped up the claim process. He said that in many cases, timing was probably an issue and it was likely that lawyers didn’t know about the procedural advantages of filing through the HRC. He added that if timing was not the issue that he wanted to find out what the issue was so that they could then work on it to improve their services.

Dr. Amodio said that a complainant who files with the HRC gains a 60 day momentum and that they’ve told people this many times but to no avail. She said that it seemed counterintuitive so undoubtedly this was one of the things the Commission had to do a better job with.

Ms. Su said she thought this was a wonderful point, saying that few people in the community knew that if they filed with the HRC they would get priority treatment with the CHRO so perhaps this should be advertised in the HRC publicity campaign and on the website. She said that given the choice, she would go to a national organization first, then a state organization with a local organization as her lowest priority and would never think to go to the city first as an outsider.
Dr. Stabinsky asked Mr. Bovilsky if in his FOI request investigation he was able to get case records, not to read what happened with them but to see how their complaint was brought to CHRO so that the Commission could get an idea of why complainants went to the CHRO directly rather than the Norwalk Human Relations Commission.

Mr. Bovilsky said that the FOI request was for data from the CHRO but the questionnaire was to practicing attorneys in the field. He said that there are two purposes for the questionnaire. One was to find out why attorneys were advising clients to go directly to the CHRO and the other was to advertise the HRC and explain why the HRC is a better option for their clients than the CHRO by asking leading questions. Mr. Bovilsky said that a lot of the information about individual cases was protected by privacy and that even FOI requests couldn’t get to it but that he didn’t think that the CHRO would know why someone filed with them over another organization.

Mr. Dupervil said that everyone here was accustomed to internet searching and if he had a case and didn’t know where to go he would go to the computer to find out exactly where to go and if CHRO came up first, he might go to them but if Norwalk Human Relations Commission came up first then he might go to them.

Ms. Franklin said that as a new commissioner she was under the impression that a lot of work was going to the CHRO because it was being directed from here to them.

Dr. Amodio said that perhaps that was happening unofficially but not officially.

She said that to Mr. Dupervil’s point she wondered what ranking New Haven’s HRC, as a substantially equivalent Human Rights Organization to that of the Federal Government would hold in an internet search.

Ms. Su said that she thought they should support Mr. Bovilsky’s suggestion.

Mr. Bovilsky continued reviewing his report.

** DR. AMODIO MOVED TO ACCEPT THE DIRECTOR'S REPORT.
** MS. FRANK SECONDED.
** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

5. OLD BUSINESS

There was no old business.

6. NEW BUSINESS

a. Diversity Subcommittee Report

Dr. Amodio said that every couple of weeks or so she went to a private research facility in New York to source grants and that she came across a couple of grants by accident that actually had to do with community and diversity. She said that she would download them, do some research and bring them before the Commission to see if this would fit within the purview of the Diversity Sub-Committee. She also offered to provide any technical assistance to write the grants.

Mr. Bovilsky distributed copies of the Diversity Sub-Committee’s meeting minutes from their August 3rd meeting and copies of a draft of a letter to the Mayor and Council President requesting that appointments to the HRC be chosen with the goal of keeping/making the membership of the HRC diverse and representative of the statutory protected classes, both of which were reviewed by Dr. Stabinsky.

** DR. STABINSKY MOVED THAT THE LETTER BEFORE THE COMMISSION DATED AUGUST 16, 2007 FROM THE HUMAN RELATIONS COMMISSIONERS TO MAYOR RICHARD A. MOCCIA AND COUNCIL PRESIDENT MICHAEL W. COFFEY BE ACCEPTED AND FORWARDED TO THE MAYOR AND COUNCIL PRESIDENT.
** MS. SU SECONDED.

Ms. Frank commented that if one were to receive this letter one would get the impression that there was not diversity on the Commission already and she thought it had to be made clear that there was.

Mr. Bovilsky excused himself to get a second letter at 8:50 p.m.

Dr. Stabinsky said that he thought that was made clear in the first paragraph where it said “…to seek your assistance in keeping, and wherever possible expanding the diverse make-up of the membership of the HRC.”

Ms. Frank said that she had no objection to the letter but that she didn’t see the need for it.

Dr. Amodio agreed, saying that she felt the letter was redundant.

** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

Dr. Stabinsky continued his review of the Diversity Sub-Committee Report.

Mr. Bovilsky reentered the meeting at 8:55 p.m.

Mr. Bovilsky distributed copies of a draft of a letter inviting the 43 organizations that were involved in the Community Diversity Education Day on December 2nd, 2006 to attend a follow-up event and asking those organizations for their feedback on several details of that event.

Dr. Stabinsky reviewed the letter and said that they would organize the event depending on responses to the letter or hold no event if there were no responses.

** DR. STABINSKY MOVED THAT THE LETTER BEFORE THE COMMISSION DATED AUGUST 20, 2007 BE ACCEPTED AND FORWARDED TO THE 43 ORGANIZATIONS WHO ATTENDED THE COMMUNITY DIVERSITY EDUCATION DAY ON DECEMBER 2ND, 2006.

Ms. Su asked if they could first have the Commission’s assistance with deciding on possible dates for the event.

After some discussion it was decided that the following would be included in the letter as choices: Saturday morning, November 17th, Saturday morning Dec 1st and Thursday night November 29th.

** MS. FRANKLIN SECONDED.
** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

Ms. Su suggested a discussion on whether or not a consultant was needed to facilitate this event so that if it was decided that they would hire someone an RFP could be issued.

Dr. Stabinsky said that he felt they could run it themselves.

Ms. Frank asked if they had a session left with 3D Seminars.

Dr. Stabinsky answered that they did not.

Mr. Bovilsky said that he was not confident that they were experts in the topics they were offering for discussion and Ms. Su, Dr. Amodio, Ms. Frank and Mr. Dupervil all agreed that a consultant would be needed.

** MS. SU MOVED TO HIRE A CONSULTANT TO HELP THE COMMISSION FACILITATE AS WELL AS CONDUCT SOME TRAINING SESSIONS FOR THE COMMUNITY DIVERSITY EDUCATION DAY REUNION EVENT.
** MR. DUPERVIL SECONDED.

Ms. Frank said she agreed that a consultant was needed but they should get feedback from attendees first.

Mr. Dupervil said that they should be prepared for the potential response.

Ms. Frank asked Mr. Bovilsky what the turnaround time for an RFP would be.

Mr. Bovilsky and said that having never done one for the City of Norwalk he wasn't sure. He said that he had the RFP from the last Diversity Day so developing the RFP would not be significantly time consuming but that they would need to give respondents to the RFP probably a couple of weeks to develop appropriate plans as far as what they could offer and the whole process would probably take three weeks, maybe a month.

Ms. Brown suggested that the invitation be sent well in advance with a deadline for response of one week or 10 days from receipt.

Dr. Amodio asked if there was any issue with the organization who facilitated the Dec 2nd, 2006 event, which prevented them from using their services again.

Mr. Bovilsky said that regardless of whether they wanted to use their services again, they were still required by Norwalk City Code to issue an RFP.

Dr. Stabinsky asked if there was any money in the budget available for a consultant.

Mr. Bovilsky replied that there was $4,000 available for Training and Education of others, which was added to the budget because of Diversity Day.

Dr. Amodio asked if there was not a high turnout in responses if they might offer a “seat in coach” for people to join the event.

Ms. Su said that attendees would be able to invite coworkers.

** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

b. Human Rights Day and Study Circles Subcommittee Report

Mr. Bovilsky distributed copies of the International Human Rights Day / Study Circles Subcommittee Report.

Dr. Amodio reviewed the report and invited the Commission to contact the Sub-Committee with input and ideas for the Human Rights Day.

c. Nominating Committee for Annual Meeting

Ms. Brown said that she’d asked Ms. Su, Ms. Franklin, Mr. Dupervil and Dr. Amodio to be a part of the Nominating Committee.

7. ADJOURNMENT

** MS. FRANK MOVED TO ADJOURN.
** MS. SU SECONDED.
** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY

The meeting was adjourned at 9:25 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Jessica Schroder
Telesco Secretarial Services

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