05-27-14 HRC Minutes MINUTES
Human Rights Commission (HRC)
City of Golden Valley
7800 Golden Valley Road
Golden Valley, MN 55427
Council Conference Room
May 27, 2014
Commissioners present: Adam Buttress, Chair
Brian Cook, Vice-Chair
Jonathan Burris
Carla Johnson
Teresa Martin
Payton Perkins
Susan Phelps
Michael Pristash
Commissioners absent: None
Guest: Christopher Jordan
Staff Liaison: Chantell Knauss
Assistant City Manager
The meeting was convened at 6:30 pm by Chair Buttress.
Approval of April 22, 2014 Regular Meeting Minutes
Motion by Vice-Chair Cook, second by Chair Buttress to approve the minutes.
Motion carried 8-0.
Introductions
Commissioners, guests, and staff introduced themselves for the benefit of the three new
Commissioners Martin, Phelps and Pristash. Former Commissioner Jordan was recognized
for his service and valuable contributions to the Human Rights Commission.
Review HRC Conversations May 8 Event
There were 31 total attendees, including Council Members, HRC Commissioners, panelists
and staff. This was the most well-attended HRC sponsored event to date. Commissioners
discussed the results of the survey completed by attendees which all had favorable
remarks about the event.
One of the comments on the survey concerned Crisis Intervention Training (CIT) for police
officers. Knauss read the email that was sent to the City Council Members from Police
Chief Carlson, following the May 8 event which states:
We have trained about 2/3 of our patrol officers in CIT. It is based on the nationally
recognized Memphis PD program, which is the only model used in law enforcement.
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We have consistently sent 2-3 officers to the training each time we have seen it
offered. We have consciously had a running goal of getting every patrol officer
trained. The training is offered infrequently and is 40 hours, thus why we can only
send a couple at a time. We will continue to send officers until everyone has had the
basic course. There are also periodic refresher courses, which is our next goal. We
also periodically bring in trainers to our in-service training to discuss various topics
related to dealing with the mentally ill.
Conversely, we are currently researching offering an evening at the PD for autistic
kids, to acclimate them to police officers. This would hopefully help them reach out
to an officer should they ever need help. There is not a model for this type of event
but we figured with the rising numbers of autism, an attempt at familiarizing them to
officers is a good start even if we are doing it off the cuff.
HRC Conversations Event Planning — October 9 "Adults and Mental Illness"
• C. Knauss reported that Ken Barlow, KSTP Meteorologist, has confirmed that he will
be a speaker at the event.
• Commissioner Burris is awaiting a return call from Touchstone to see if they would
be able to provide a representative for the panel discussion.
• Commissioner Martin to contact Hugh Elwood at Oasis to see if they would be able
to provide a representative for the panel discussion.
• Commissioner Martin to contact NAMI to see if they will be able to provide a
representative for the panel discussion.
• Chair Buttress to contact a Walk-in Counseling Center to see if they would be able to
provide a representative for the panel discussion.
• Vice-Chair Cook reported that Representative Jim Ramstad would likely not be
available for the event.
• Council Member Snope to contact Senator Al or Frannie Franken to see if one of
them would be a speaker for the event (continued follow-up from April 22 meeting).
Other ideas for the October 9 event that were discussed was including a representative
from a Veterans organization on the panel to discuss discharged military personnel and
mental illness; having City police staff on the panel to talk about the mental illness calls
they are receiving.
It was the Commissions consensus that Ken Barlow, Touchstone, Oasis, Walk-in
Counseling, and NAMI representatives would be a well-rounded panel for this topic. The
Commission also agreed to host the event in the City Hall Council Chambers from 6:30-8
pm.
New Business — Election of Chair and Vice-Chair
In accordance with the HRC Bylaws and Board/Commission Guidelines, a Chair and Vice-
Chair are elected each May. The Chair and Vice-Chair serve one-year, non-consecutive
terms. It is the City's interpretation that since Chair Buttress was completing the term
vacated by Council Member Snope and only served four (4) months, he would be eligible to
serve as Chair again. This would also be the case with Vice-Chair Cook since he was
elected to serve the remaining four (4) months of former Vice-Chair Buttress' term when he
filled the Chair vacancy.
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Motion by Commissioner Pristash, second by Commissioner Martin to nominate
Chair Buttress and Vice-Chair Cook to serve again. Motion carried 5 — 2 — 1. Ayes:
Commissioners Johnson, Martin, Perkins, Phelps, and Pristash; Nays: Chair
Buttress, Commissioner Burris; Abstain: Vice-Chair Cook.
Motion by Commissioner Burris, second by Chair Buttress to re-consider the
previous vote. Motion carried 8 — 0.
There was discussion as to whether or not any other commissioners are interested in
serving as Chair or Vice-Chair.
Motion by Commissioner Johnson, second by Chair Buttress to nominate Vice-Chair
Cook as Chair. Motion carried 5 — 0 — 3. Ayes: Commissioners Buttress, Burris,
Johnson, Martin, and Phelps; Abstain: Cook, Perkins, and Pristash.
Motion by Commissioner Burris, second by Commissioner Johnson to nominate
Commissioner Martin as Vice-Chair. Motion carried 7 — 0 — 1. Ayes: Commissioners
Burris, Buttress, Cook, Johnson, Perkins, Phelps, and Pristash; Abstain: Martin.
Open Meeting Law
Knauss distributed to new Commissioners Martin, Phelps and Pristash the DVD recording
of the Open Meeting Law Training that was presented to Golden Valley City Council and
Board/Commission members by the League of Minnesota Cities Insurance Trust on June
12, 2013. Commissioners were asked to view the DVD as part of their HRC responsibilities
and they would also be receiving the HRC Bylaws and Council Guidelines for
Boards/Commissions via email.
Adjourn
Motion by Chair Cook, second by Commissioner Pristash to adjourn the meeting at
7:39 pm. Motion carried 8 —0.
Follow-up Items:
• Commissioner Burris is awaiting a return call from TouchStone to see if they would
be able to provide a representative for the panel discussion.
• Commissioner Martin to contact Hugh Elwood at Oasis to see if they would be able
to provide a representative for the panel discussion.
• Commissioner Martin to contact NAMI to see if they will be able to provide a
representative for the panel discussion.
• Chair Buttress to contact a Walk-in Counseling Center to see if they would be able to
provide a representative for the panel discussion.
• Council Member Snope to contact Senator Al or Frannie Franken to see if one of
them would be a speaker for the event (continued follow-up from April 22 meeting).
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Adam Buttress, Chair
ATTEST:
Chantell Knauss, Staff Liaison
Approved by HRC:, 2014
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