APRIL 18, 2002

STAFF: Sonja Devitt; Director, Larry Patterson.

OTHERS: Shivaun Dipshan.

The Chairman called the meeting to order at 7.40pm.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

The following corrections were made to the minutes dated February 21, 2002

• Sarah Bradley should be moved to "Others"

• The title "February 21, 2002" should be deleted.
• On page 2, in the motion regarding Brien McMahon, the sentence should read "Mr. Flack moved to close the cases of the Brien McMahon Year Book complaint".
• On page 3, 7^th paragraph down, second sentence should read "Mr. Murray stated that entrapment was a legal term which did not apply in this issue".
• On page 4, 4^th and 5^th paragraphs, the statements are to be put into the past tense. "Mr. Patterson entered the room at 8.35pm. He distributed copies of the Section 8 Application forms for Danbury and Norwalk. Ms. Suib summarized the hearing by reminding Ms. Tomas that it is illegal to deny Section 8 applicants".
• Also on page 4, 6^th paragraph, the last sentence should now read "Because there was a death in the family, she chose not to show or rent the apartment to anyone regardless of Section 8 status".
• On page 5, under Other Business, the statement should read "Mr. Scialabba reported that he received a letter from Norwalk’s Fair Housing Advisory Commission. The letter requests our Commission to advise them of the top three or four barriers as to what the Commission sees as fair and affordable housing".

• Also on page 5, under Other Business, should read "Ms. Romano commented that the City of Norwalk is above the level of affordable housing for those with the median per household".

** MR. PAPADAKOS SECONDED.

** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

CHAIRMAN’S REPORT

The Chairman stated that he had received a letter from the Center for Youth Leadership that contained a comment regarding the Brien McMahon Year Book. The letter will be forwarded to Bruce Morris.

Ms. Brown joined the meeting at 7.50pm

On March 11, 2002 the Chairman received written notice of intent to commence an action against the municipality, commissioners, and municipal employees regarding the Year Book. It was filed by Attorney Brown, and even included Dr. Stabinsky, who was appointed before the report was released, although he neither attended nor discussed the Year Book matter.

On March 22, 2002 the Chairman received a letter from Denise Pote complimenting the commission on their action regarding the Year Book.

Ms. Amodio joined the meeting at 8.00pm

Also on March 22, 2002 all commissioners should have received a copy of a letter from Mr. Pullan to the mayor asking for the commissioners’ resignations when their terms expire and not to be re-appointed.

DIRECTOR’S REPORT

Ms. Devitt stated that they need extra staff for the office, at least a part-time person, but due to the financial climate this will be unlikely.

Ms. Devitt said that April is Fair Housing month, and she will be doing a joint landlord/tenant seminar Wednesday, April 24 at 7:00 pm with Margaret Suib.

Weed and Seed has asked Ms. Devitt to work on a landlord and tenant module directed more toward the Community Police.

Ms. Devitt mentioned a piece from the newspapers about a co-worker having a severe allergic reaction to perfume. She wanted to let Commissioners know that a case such as this can be placed under the disability act and to be aware of situations like this.

Ms. Devitt said she had spoken to the Exchange Club to inform them of what her office does.

PUBLIC COMMENT

Shivaun Dipshan asked the chairman to elaborate on the Brien McMahon Year Book case. To which the Chairman replied that they had issued a report close to 200 pages and the Commission had found certain items in the year book that were discriminatory in nature and investigated them and had issued the report. The school had failed to notice this and allowed the book to be published. The report is public and can be found on the website.

EXECUTIVE SESSION FOR CASE REVIEW

Mr. Scialabba asked for a list of assignments to be put together to see what needed completing. Mr. Murray and Ms. Romano are to work on Youth and Education.

Ms. Devitt would like to request that a commission member could take the time to skim the different reports that are in and to ascertain the direction they would go. Dr. Stabinsky volunteered to help Ms. Devitt.

Ms. Devitt distributed proposed revisions that were discussed by Commission Members.

** MR. KOSSARKSI SECONDED.

** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

** MR. MURRAY MOVED TO ACCEPT THE MODIFICATION TO 60-5F.

** DR. STABINSKY SECONDED.

** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

** MS. ROMANO MOVED TO ACCEPT THE MODIFICATION TO 60-5G.

** MR. MURRAY SECONDED.

** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

Ms. Devitt thanked all for completing the changes.

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