Meeting Minutes Members Present: Rev. John Clemons, Jessica Embury, Jon Hart, John Hawthorne, Alice Lewis, Barb Shelton, Rev. Kerry Snyder, Parrish, Stahl, Lynn Isaacson Zolman Members Absent: none Ex Officio Present: Val Cochran-Toops, Sue Mure, Simon Foster Also Present: Mike McKenney- guest/volunteer I. Call to Order/Roll Call: Chairman Hart called the meeting to order at 6:35 p.m. II. Roll Call III. Adoption of the Agenda: Motion for agenda approval made by Alice Lewis, seconded by Rev. Kerry Snyder. Motion carries all in favor. IV. Citizen Comments: none V. Guest: none VI. VII. Approval of Meeting Minutes July 15, 2015. Motion from Parrish Stahl to approve, seconded by Rev. Kerry Snyder. Motion carries all in favor Community Liaison Officer: None present. Chairman Hart reports. He has been in contact with Sheriff Rand and Chief Heins. Sheriff Rand has indicated they will be recording race on persons that are ticketed and Chief Heins is also open to it. Right now the focus is on everyone doing it consistently, Chief Heins stated they are moving forward with body cameras and are currently looking at data gather and storage processes. Lt. Hitt will put together a report that will be out around September. John Hawthorne asked about information regarding how being poor contributes to more jail time (fines, warrants etc.). Parrish Stahl reported bogus IRS calls to himself and he called the police who told him to ask to be on do not call list and tell them you have reported them to the police. Jessica Embury stated that 211 can also blast news of such a scam. VIII. Chairperson/Community Update: Chairman Hart reported the following: a. Rev. Darrius Williams of Second Missionary Baptist Church sent a blanket letter to many organizations including the HRC asking for some type of mayoral debate forum. Jessica Embury stated there was a Jackson Forum planned for local candidates on September 24 th, 6:30 p.m. at the Michigan Theater.
Page 2 Rev. Clemons asked Chairman Hart why Rev. Darrius would be sending us a letter about local candidates and was told this was a blanket letter sent to many different organizations for information purposes. b. Pow Wows are going forward, plan to attend one or more. Rev. John Clemons asked why the City Robocall system couldn t be used to promote the event and why the wards could not be listed on the flier next to meeting locations. Chairman Hart stated he did not know and was not really aware of the dates going forward until recently. Rev. Clemons stated he felt we weren t moving forward on some issues and not getting enough done. Chairman Hart asked Rev. Clemons how many events he has done or attended and expressed his disagreement and displeasure on the implications that we have not done enough. Questions on if all Pow Wow dates had been approved by a vote brought up by Alice Lewis, Chairman Hart. No flyers or other publications can have the HRC logo on them unless it has been approved in the meeting minutes. Barb Shelton makes a motion to approve the already published Pow Wow dates of August 18, 20, 25, 27, September 10 and 15 th. Rev. Kerry Snyder seconds. Motion carries all in favor. Simon Foster stated we should be respectful and not call out individual personal records. We should have an administrative person from the city at every meeting. He stated this commission has a reputation and we should talk about it. Chairman Hart stated reputations have been put upon us. The HRC has worked hard through personnel changes and losses and Chairman Hart doesn t appreciate hearing team members stating we have done nothing. Chairman Hart offered a personal chat with Rev Clemons. c. Chairman Hart will have a discussion with Kelli Hoover from the Parks Department on ideas or ways we can assist with the MLK Equality renamed city trail. d. Chairman Hart stated the HRC would be hosting a quarterly film discussion series starting with Grace Lee Boggs. We will set a full schedule next month. IX. Staff Report: Written report submitted by Jonathan Greene. X. Ex- Officio Report: a. Val Cochran-Toops is involved in a small exploratory group discussing putting together a Change for Life offender reintegration program. She attended the
Page 3 MLK Gospel, Rhythm and Blues event and reported a great turnout of over 300 and great conversation with community members. Val mentioned Anthony Gittens JET program teaching kids about job / personal responsibility. She asked Chairman Hart if she could bring the kids to the next meeting to observe our process and Chairman Hart said that would be fine. b. Sue Mure reported the left overs from the picnic were taken to the Interfaith Shelter. She attended the City Council meeting and commented on the city blight demo online website and what a great tool it is for the community to be informed. Sue also stated she would be interested in reviewing the minority and gender purchasing guideline manual that was mentioned at the City Council meeting. As HRC she feels we should review the document. Another idea is to have people comment live from the Pow Wows on our Facebook page. Barb Shelton commented that non admin comments on our Facebook page go off to the side. Simon Foster suggested the admins can pose a question others can comment on to alleviate this problem. Sue Mure also stated perhaps we should talk to the new city media person Will Forgrave. XI. Committee Reports: a. Anti-Violence / Neighborhood Committee: nothing new to report. b. Complaint Committee: No Complaints. c. Public Relations / Information: Newsletter is still open for content, bios pictures etc. Please send to Parrish Stahl by Aug 26th. He also suggested we set the date for the movie series so we can create a flier with all the dates as a tease. d. Policy Committee: no activity. e. Martin Luther King Breakfast: Rev. Kerry Snyder has been attending meetings. The committee reached financial goals and is working to make it bigger than ever. They have expanded to 18 schools and are looking for table sponsors. If interested contact the Jackson Chamber. John Hawthorne asked if we are an active partner in this effort and John Hart said yes we are a community partner. f. Emergency Needs Coalition: Written report attached. XII. Old Business a. Quarterly Film Series First movie Grace Lee Boggs is set for September 30 th, 6 to 9 p.m. at the Carnegie Branch Library in the downstairs auditorium room. Still Alice
Page 4, 2015 was brought up as the second film idea by Parrish Stahl and Chairman Hart. Barb Shelton suggested forums related to the recent same sex marriage ruling or post-polio syndrome. Everyone was asked to bring their ideas to the next meeting so we could settle on at least 2 more topics for the series. b. Pow Wow Update The Pow Wow discussions have started and are going well. Val Cochran apologized if there was confusion on the dates for the events. Val Cochran and Rev. John Clemons will be compiling the data gathered at each Pow Wow discussion to present to the HRC for discussion. Val Cochran referenced the meeting minutes for July 2014 where Patrick Burtch stated the city robo-calling system could be used for HRC events. c. Discussion of the possibility of Eliminating the City Ward System Chairman Hart stated this was mostly for information purposes so we could be informed. d. Discussion of Combining Committees Chairman Hart stated he felt the agenda was fine as it stood and changed to reflect the needs of the committee. Barb Shelton stated she felt perhaps having an events committee and/or community outreach committee could help streamline our activities and agenda. She also asked if there was a process of submitting written reports from committees. John Hawthorne and John Clemons will work on city policy in conjunction with changing the agenda and report back to the committee. All the city ordinance documents relating to the HRC will be emailed to all HRC members for reference. Simon Foster commented we should be holding sessions about FICO scores, how to save money and banking instead of breakfasts, film discussions and other events. Chairman Hart stated he disagreed with Simon and hopes that Simon will lead the new initiatives and ideas he brought to the committee. Barb Shelton stated that if Simon wanted the committee to accept his ideas he should not tell them everything they have been doing is wrong but champion his ideas and prove their success. e. Support for JACRAA Bridges to Justice John Hawthorne makes a motion to support the Bridges to Justice program, Rev. Clemons seconds. Motion carries all in favor. Barb Shelton will send the logo and notify them of our support. XIII. New Business a. John Hawthorne asked to defer his report because of the lateness of time so we can devote some time to discussion. The basic idea is to create study groups involving council members, HRC members and community leaders.
Page 5. b. Suggested agenda additions 1. HRC members attend the City Council meetings and reporting back. 2. End of meeting comment session so everyone has an opportunity to speak. Jessica Embury stated it was hard for new members to jump in and add content to the meeting and this would help. c. Val Cochran announced tickets available for the Annual NAACP Freedom Fund Banquet. XIV. Adjournment a. Motion to adjourn at 8:42 p.m. Respectfully Submitted, Barb Shelton, Secretary