OCTOBER 16, 2003

STAFF: Larry Patterson

OTHER: Michele DeLuca, American Red Cross

The Chairman called the meeting to order at 7:35 p.m.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF SEPTEMBER 16, 2003

The following changes were made to the Minutes:

Page 1: Attendance: Rahoul Dupervil and Joshua Kammerman were not in attendance.

Page 1: Attendance and Welcome New Commissioners: Change name to Lesley

Eisenberg

Page 1 and throughout: Change Dr. Amodio to Dr. Amodio.

Page 2: World Wide Human Rights Day: Seventh Sentence: Change to: He said he had

spoken to Bruce Morris and would give him a follow up call …..

Page 3: First sentence: Change to: Dr. Stabinsky asked Dr. Amodio if she would be

willing to be the Chairman of the Human Rights Day project this year.

Page 3: Second paragraph: First sentence: Mr. Papadakos said he believed both events

should be held on the same day.

Page 3: Combine first and second paragraphs.

Page 3: Second paragraph: Fourth sentence: Dr. Amodio said she would be happy to call

Page 3: Second paragraph: Fifth sentence: Mr. Papadakos said he believed they should

preview the American Red Cross video.

Page 3: Second paragraph: Sixth sentence: Dr. Amodio agreed to show the video …..

Page 3: Second paragraph: Tenth sentence: She did not want the Board of Education ….

Page 3: Second paragraph: Fifteenth sentence: Dr. Amodio said Mr. Morris had input on

the schools also.

Page 3: Second paragraph: Last sentence: Mr. Murray asked if Mr. Morris could preview

the video and get his opinion before the meeting.

Page 4: First paragraph: Last sentence: He said since the administration was unwilling …

Page 4: Second paragraph: Sixth sentence: Dr. Stabinsky said the Mayor appointed

everyone who was on the Human Relations Commission.

Page 4: Second paragraph: Seventh sentence: add to the end of the sentence: of the Ad

Hoc Committee.

Page 4: Second paragraph: Twelfth sentence: He said if the letter was sent to personnel,

he did want to be a part of it.

Page 4: Third paragraph: Eleventh sentence: Mr. Papadakos said he would do the letter

to Ms. LeTourneau of Personnel the next day.

Page 4: Last paragraph: Second sentence: Dr. Amodio said there were now two, but

there should be one integrated body.

Page 4: Last paragraph: Last sentence: Delete sentence.

Page 5: Second paragraph: Third sentence: However, he does not believe they should

be on the ad hoc committee …..

Page 5: Second paragraph: Fifth sentence: Dr. Amodio said Steve Papadakos discussed

having members at large ….

Page 5: Second paragraph: Last sentence: He also said everyone needed to be present to

forge a sense of group …

Page 5: Third paragraph: Fourth sentence: The Chairman asked why they could not

have volunteers at the next meeting when they get the opinion back.

Page 5: Third paragraph: Fifth sentence: Dr. Amodio said the outgoing Chairman when

Sonja was hired was a member of the Hiring Committee.

Page 5: Third paragraph: Seventh sentence: Dr. Amodio also said that everyone should

be a part of the hiring process and Steve Papadakos agreed that they should first

Page 5: Third paragraph: Ninth sentence: Delete.

Page 5: Third paragraph: Last sentence: Change to matter.

Page 6: Third paragraph: Third sentence: He said they had been trying to get this done in

the past two years and a month ago the Chairman of the Human Relations

Page 6: Third paragraph: Last sentence: He said Commissioners who had e-mail

addresses had gotten the report ….

Page 6: Last paragraph: Second sentence: Ms. DeVitt had asked him to contact the

Superintendent of School’s office ….

** MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.

CHAIRMAN’S REPORT

The Chairman reported he sent a letter to Corporation Counsel on September 24^th to request a legal definition of the duties of the Human Relations Commission pertaining to the hiring of the new Director. He continued that he was in the building and stopped by the Law Department and asked Ms. Lasberg if she had the opinion letter that was requested. Ms. Lasberg told him she could not act on it but had requested the file from Ms. LeTourneau and had spoken to the Mayor. Ms. Lasberg also told the Chairman that she had nothing back yet from Corporation Counsel. The Chairman stated he would followup tomorrow with Ms. Lasberg and the Law Department. Mr. Patterson distributed, for the Commission’s review, a request form that was filled out for Corporation Counsel. Discussion followed. Mr. Kammerman commented that they were shifting the focus from moving the City along quickly.

The Chairman reported that on September 29^th he met with John Schlosser and Sara LeTourneau of the Personnel Department and they reviewed the resumes that had been received. He noted that there were 97 applications and that there were good, qualified candidates. He commented that twenty attorneys had sent in resumes with no prior experience. The Chairman stated that the next step would be to see if the Commissioners were available to weed down the resumes to those they are comfortable with. He added that after reviewing the resumes, the one Commissioner that had applied for the position, should be recused from voting.

The Chairman reported that at the Counselor’s meeting, Athena Jacobson resigned due to personal reasons.

Dr. Stabinsky questioned that the Chairman went to the Personnel Department without writing the letter that he was told to write, and then asked the Chairman if the letter was sent. The Chairman replied that it was done. Dr. Stabinsky also stated that they still do not know who was responsible to do the hiring process, Ms. LeTourneau or the Human Relations Commission. He thought it was too relaxed and not official enough. The Chairman stated that he went to see if there were qualified applicants, per Mr. Scialabba, and he did not know if was going to be allowed to do that. He continued that he was allowed to go in and review the applications and now if the Commissioners were interested, they could go review them. Mr. Dupervil stated that they should wait to get an opinion response from the Law Department. Mr. Kammerman stated that the Ad Hoc Committee should have reviewed the applications to weed them out. Dr. Stabinsky stated that it was a waste of their time to look at the resumes if someone else has the power. Mr. Ross commented that the Chairman made a step to get the Commission involved in the process. The Chairman stated that he would call the Law Department tomorrow to see where they were with the opinion letter and to see when, as a group, the Commission was available to review all the resumes. Ms. Brown asked if the search process was closed and the Chairman said it was not.

After discussion, it was agreed that Mr. Papadakos, Mr. Kammerman, Mr. Dupervil, Ms. Romano and Mr. Scialabba will serve as an Ad Hoc Committee to review, as a screening, the resumes and they will then bring the final applicants to the Commission for their review. The Chairman stated that he would notify the Personnel Department that the Ad Hoc Committee would like to review the resumes. Mr. Ross commented that this was a good plan and to move forward. Dr. Stabinsky asked if non-Commissioners should be on the Ad Hoc Committee. Mr. Ross asked Mr. Patterson if there was anything in the regulations that state that the Chairman has the right to set up an Ad Hoc Committee. Mr. Patterson replied that the Chairman has the authority to do that if only as a review Committee. The Chairman noted that the Commission will have the final review.

FIELD REPRESENTATIVE’S REPORT

Mr. Patterson distributed copies of the Blue Ribbon Commission Report to the new Commissioners. He also distributed two newspaper articles. The first was in The Hour relating to people that share their vision of the ideal job and it featured the Reverend Ron Robinson. The second article, he noted, was in today’s Advocate pertaining to Matthew Miklave of the Common Council trying to obtain an amendment to the Mayor’s purchasing office guidelines to continuing barring companies that discriminate from being able to bid for one year. Mr. Patterson said that item was tabled until the Council’s next meeting.

WORLD WIDE HUMAN RIGHTS DAY

Dr. Amodio introduced Michele DeLuca, Assistant Director of Emergency Services of the American Red Cross. Dr. Amodio reported that Ms. DeLuca participated in an International Humanitarian Law training program in which a yearlong pilot curriculum was developed that will be tested and reviewed and adapted for use in schools throughout the nation. Dr. Amodio stated that teaching Humanitarian Law is a legal obligation of every nation that is in the Geneva Convention and that the ideal is to partner with the schools to educate the children.

Dr. Amodio continued that because of the international focus of the whole month in Norwalk, it was discussed that there be more events that people can participate in. She stated that one of the UN missions is that a human being has the right to state of the art health care. Dr. Amodio reported that Ms. DeLuca would be showing a four minute video that is for school children and adults to see what is going on in other parts of the world pertaining to the privileges that we have and they do not. Ms. DeLuca then showed a video on the measles initiative in South Africa. She stated that each year, the measles kills a half million children in Africa and that one child dies of measles every minute in Africa, which could have been prevented had the child been vaccinated. Ms. DeLuca reported that the Measles Initiative is a global partnership among the Red Cross, UNICEF, the UN Foundation, the Centers for Disease Control and the World Health Organization and helps provide measles vaccinations for children in Africa for less than $1.00 per day. Ms. DeLuca stated that she was trying to get the initiative to work in Norwalk and their goal was to raise $5,000 by the end of July 2004.

It was discussed if this was something that was more related to a Health Department forum and if the Red Cross should partner with the Human Services Council. The Chairman stated he did not think that the presentation tonight tied in with the Human Relations Commission. Mr. Ross stated he was reluctant and that it would be better suited to tie it into the health agency and it was not appropriate for Human Rights Day. Mr. Kammerman stated that they were confusing the term "rights" with "relations" and he felt this was the Human Relations Commission and there was a difference between the two. Dr. Stabinsky stated that they should focus on Human Rights Day and month and then come back to this discussion in the spring. Ms. Eisenberg stated she liked it because it broadened the horizons for the children. Mr. Dupervil stated that he did not see this as a presentation for Human Rights Day, but he sees it as humanity. The Commission concurred that Dr. Amodio will thank Ms. DeLuca for her presentation and tell her that it was not appropriate at this time, however they will contact her as needed.

Dr. Amodio next reported that she did not feel it was possible to have Human Rights Day on one day. She stated that on December 10^th the Mayor was free for the event in the atrium and the declaration could be done the same day. Dr. Amodio stated that she spoke to the Superintendent of Schools and the school that makes the most sense to hold the event was Columbus Magnet School because of its strong focus on diversity. The Chairman stated that he felt the Commission should have chosen the school. Dr. Amodio reported that the date at the school will be December 9^th from 9:30 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. She stated that the school principal will ask the students to put a message in the ornaments. Dr. Amodio asked the Chairman if he would contact his company to donate a tree.

** DR. STABINSKY SECONDED THE MOTION.

** MOTION CARRIED WITH SEVEN VOTES IN FAVOR; ONE OPPOSED

(MR. PAPADAKOS).

** DR. STABINSKY SECONDED THE MOTION.

** MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.

Dr. Amodio stated that she will obtain the times of the Human Rights Day event. She asked if the Commission had a preference on the article to focus on this year. The Commission chose Article 1.

EXECUTIVE SESSION FOR CASE REVIEW

** DR. STABINSKY MOVED TO GO INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION AT

10:00 P.M. FOR CASE REVIEW.

** MR. KAMMERMAN SECONDED.

** MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.

The Commission came out of Executive Session at 10:54 p.m. The Chairman noted that Ms. Brown left the meeting at 10:07 p.m.

OLD BUSINESS

a. Fair Housing Representative’s Report – Steve Papadakos

The Chairman stated that the meeting will be held on Monday and therefore he had nothing to report.

NEW BUSINESS

It was discussed that there should be plaques in the schools that were doing Human Rights Day. Dr. Amodio stated she would look into pricing and donations and have the information for next month’s meeting.

Dr. Stabinsky stated that he would like the new Commissioners to review the original Blue Ribbon Commission report before it was voted on and that it be put on the agenda for next month’s meeting. The Chairman stated that if there were other suggestions to the Blue Ribbon Commission report that they will be addressed in the next meeting to finalize the report.

ADJOURNMENT

** DR. AMODIO MOVED TO ADJOURN.

** MR. DUPERVIL SECONDED THE MOTION.

** MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.

The meeting was adjourned at 11:00 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Donna DeVito

Telesco Secretarial Services

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