##VIDEO ID:q4jIueDnOsQ## e e good evening everyone welcome to the chasa Human Rights Commission meeting of Thursday October 24th 2024 we're glad you're here we're glad you're at home viewing if uh if you're surprised it's actually raining outside so uh enjoy the moments of rain on your rooftops um roll call tonight please Elise Mr hubber here Mr walber here Mr G here lur here here commissioner Sanderson commissioner Hamza commissioner me chair Carlson here thanks Elise we have a guest tonight a special guest guest uh Steve Walker is a veteran service officer for Carver County um please welcome to the podium um why veterans well I guess I could probably turn to Ren who kind of heads up our um focus for the month of November we they've done so much for our country we're just really excited to recognize and and you know excited to uh be able to um talk about the the folks in the community who've who've done so much to make sure that we have the the freedoms that we that we enjoy earlier tonight Jen and I were meeting with a uh master's degree student to talk about the role of the Human Rights Commission and one of the things we talked about was having you here tonight with us Steve to talk a little bit about what it is that your office does but also how we can support veterans within our community we recognize that they may be a silent voice that um we should stand beside or lift up or uh do more welcoming or and we will welcome your suggestions on how to do that so again thanks for your willingness to be here tonight and um I'll turn it over to you and then we'll probably have some time for some questions and answers sure sounds good and the the veteran world is something I could talk all night about so I will try to be uh brief with my slide and presentation I would like to thank you chairwoman for the the invitation to to get in front of the this organization uh and thank you all for being here on and allowing us to to have a voice uh veterans in this community uh I do feel like have a a very strong voice very strong opinions over things uh and that can sometimes come at a a clash with uh the community I would say this community at Carver County as a whole uh from a fairly Outsiders perspective uh I live in henpen County at least for the time being uh lived there for the last eight years we would talk to you about moving to our community certainly looking we are looking every day uh this community has been so welcoming uh they truly do care about their veterans uh there are so many people that just and so many different programs that are created and so many nonprofits that are out there looking to try and help veterans uh and that is clearly because of the the up upbringing uh of the the community here and just the emphasis from the top down uh that veterans matter and I'd say it's you are not the only one that has that that belief that is clearly an emphasis in this community and so I I would really like to thank Carver County as a whole uh for the strong welcoming that I have received I've only been in this position for the last years uh and again my name is Steve Walker I am the Carver County Veteran Service Officer I took over in July of last year of 2023 after Dan tangwell ended up moving on um our office is just down the the street and we meet with veterans their surviving spouses their dependants every day to make sure that they are informed and are receiving the the benefits that are there for them uh so with that I'll get into my presentation thank you chair so who is down there at the office uh it is myself as the county veteran service officer uh but we also have two assistant County Veteran service officers Chuck Maxfield and Brett Lions uh they've both been there uh about five or more years uh so definitely know what they've been doing I was lucky to inherit uh such a strong office uh I would put us against any other County Veteran service office in the state of Minnesota uh we know what we're doing uh we're all very experienced and strong advocates for veterans and their dependence uh we also have Dean Christensen we're very lucky to have him he's not just an administrative assistant uh he is kind of the glue that holds everything together uh he helps run our transportation program uh he spent a lot of time with uh the state running various State Assistance programs that I'll get into in a minute uh and he spent time at the the VA and the pension world uh assisting uh veterans and their surviving spouses with some of those uh those claims so he comes with a world of knowledge and it's something that our office again why I would put our office up against any office in the state of Minnesota we have so much knowledge and experience uh including our drivers we have roughly 80 years of military service uh combined in our office and I think it around 40 uh years of service in the veteran service community so we have a a vast experience at all levels federal state and local so we know what we're doing and how to best serve each individual person that comes to us because as much as I wish every veteran just was entitled to kind of every benefit out there it really depends on their length of service where and when they served uh what issues they may have uh dealing with now and what issues they may have been dealing with in service uh to include then the surviving spouses as well so it's every individual veteran really needs their own case consultation needs their own time to really figure out what we can do best to serve them uh but that is what we give every veteran that comes to us so next slide please so some of the the career possibilities and the things that are out there for uh not just veterans but people even looking to to join uh I mean I have friends from service that have used it to get certifications for it they've switched rol I uh I've got friends that have also ended up getting the flight hours to become a pilot and being able to use the military to pay for a lot those things that are extremely expensive to do on the outside world so there are a lot of possibilities out there I mean every medic that leaves their annual or their uh basic in AIT comes away with an EMT level certification so there are depending on what somebody ends up wanting to do on the outside world uh they have the means to be able to try and get some initial help getting that leg up uh through that service and then even once they are done serving they are typically given some preference points so if they are applying for federal positions if they're applying for city or county positions uh there are state regulations that allow for veterans to at least be interviewed for some of those positions uh so veterans are I would say in the state of Minnesota extremely taken care of uh there are people very well-meaning trying to look out for our veterans and making sure that they are given some of those kind of legs up uh just as a thank you for their service uh and while they're I mean while in service you're receiving that free healthcare free dental uh that a lot of people end up needing uh that first bullet up there Direction one unsure what to do Post High School uh myself as an example I'm the youngest of four I did not know how I was going to pay for college I did not know what I was going to to do I come from a long line of teachers thought that was maybe what I was going to do through life I decided no that's not for me I want to I do want to help people I do want to teach people but not in that route uh and the military helped give me some of that that purpose and that direction uh so kids coming out of high school at 18 don't always know what they want to do uh the military gives them some of those that opportunity to grow up a little bit figure out what they want to do and even give them some of those legs up some of those certifications some of those credentials that they may need uh that are harder to get on the outside or that are very expensive to get on the outside uh so those are some of the the benefits while serving and some of the things that they can get through their service uh next slide please so who do we help obviously we help veterans it's in the name uh but we also help spouses uh sometimes get benefits uh we have Justice involved veterans people that end up making mistakes uh or suffering from uh PTSD and end up getting in trouble with the law or end up uh addicted to to drugs and end up involved with the law so sometimes we are assisting those spouses uh and receiving some benefits while possible uh while they're going through some of those processes we help surviving spouses when the veteran unfortunately passes uh that I mean I can tell you today I talked to two spouses that lost their husbands just this last within the last week and trying to navigate what benefits are out there what is my what is that next check going to look like is the VA going to take it all where are we going to get them buried how do I get the forms to get them inter at Fort Snelling we help with all of it we help make sure they get the documentation needed to help them do all of the forms and get it to where they need to to alleviate some of those pressures from them uh we help the dependent children uh meeting somebody tomorrow to try and go over what benefits might be there for a child uh that is only 14 15 years old still under the age of 18 there may be some benefits out there they don't pop up all that often but this is one of those rare times and so we have to assist any veteran and their family uh really holistically with whatever we can to make sure they are informed and get the benefits that they deserve and then we help next of kin again much like the surviving spouses uh sometimes we'll have that that daughter that that grandson that is so so proud of their their grandparent that served in in World War II uh served in Vietnam that passed away and they just want to know more about their their service uh and so we can assist them with getting some of those documents to be able to figure out where exactly were they uh when they passed away what did they do in service and be able to help them get the awards that they were entitled to to be able to make a shadow box uh to be able to have up on their wall and honor them so we kind of help anybody and everybody that has you know that is affected by veterans to include their their family next slide please so the big one that we assist with are are the federal benefits uh that is where I would say we spend most of our time on assistance is with like disability compensation they end up getting injured uh and their their time and Service uh they went to combat they're suffering with PTSD that is there any issues or injuries that they're dealing with that we can tiac to service and there is a a compensation for that uh that is that disability compensation uh there's pension if they serve during uh some wartime there are various different benefits um a big one is going to be the education benefits so somebody leaves service they're not sure what they still want to do maybe they've got some certifications maybe they need to go back to school there are programs uh like the GI bill to be able to use it to go to college to go to university if that isn't what they want to do if they are more in the trades they only used a year got their certifications uh and now they're working somewhere but they are on probation there's another underutilized program it's called on the job training or OJT that we can assist them and their the business owner to get some extra compensation from the government for hiring a veteran uh so trying to get information out to employers as well as to the the veterans on hiring a veteran can be financially good for you uh for hiring and then keeping them on after the probationary period they would get $2,000 and I don't know a company that would turn away $2,000 so just for hiring the veteran they do minimal work just log in every month and say yes they're still employed here yes they're doing what we're asking them to do they can end up getting that additional income uh there's Healthcare Healthcare is that say the second biggest thing we end up dealing with trying to make sure veterans are receiving their health care because unfortunately you walk away from service you had all that Health Care you found employment and now you've got the greatest health insurance through your employer you choose not to enroll in VA Healthcare VA Healthcare has so many rules and stipulations that just having that DD214 that discharge from service is not just your automatic qualifier you're enrolled the VA is expanding it all the time uh trying to open it up more and more but there are so many rules with it that really there are times we have to dig into somebody's file what did they do where did they go specifically to try and get them enrolled in healthcare to be able to get treatment for some of those things U we see a lot of that in some of our aging Community uh the ones that are 60 years old not quite 65 not able to get on Medicare but looking to retire and just need to know how do I get health care to kind of fill in that Gap uh we are I really wish every veteran would enroll in VA Healthcare uh for simple reason when they get older we're having a lot of older veterans that are struggling and kind of on that verge of needing Assisted Living needing senior help needing needing that extra care and the VA on the health care side is always coming out with new programs to try and help veterans stay in their homes longest because that is where they're most familiar that is where they tend to strive best uh so if we can keep them in their homes and provide that inhome health care they tend to do better than putting them in into a a senior home or an assisted living facility but to do that we have to get them enrolled in VA Healthcare because they are the ones paying for it and as I said before if they are not enrolled VA doesn't just say come on in you got your discharge welcome uh There are rules to it and so sometimes we have to navigate how to get them in and that can be very difficult and challenging when that veteran is say 75 80 years old and has never used the VA Healthcare System because everything with the VA and the federal government just takes a little bit of time uh and sometimes that time is just not what the veteran has uh but we also assist with you know getting people intered out at Fort Snelling at the National Cemetery uh and then there is emergency assistance uh every other every other Thursday so just this morning I sat on a homeless veteran U meeting for the the South Metro right now we have a couple that are uh kind of on that Verge some that are in the program and always trying to make sure that we are doing whatever we can at all levels to find them success sustainable housing uh how do they get there where are their food needs where can we assist with kind of everything looking at it holistically how do they get to this point in life it's not typically just one thing that happens uh to make somebody homeless so again back to that kind of each individual veteran case consultation every conversation with a veteran is different uh and so you just have to be able to kind of pull those things out of veterans because we are also not great at advocating for ourselves and even worse at asking for help before it becomes an emergency unfortunately uh we are very proud people and it is difficult to ask for help until you truly need it till you've done everything you can to try and fix your own problems so a lot of times we deal with crisis management uh but we're getting very very good at it I promise so next slide please uh we also assist with state benefits there are state benefits for veterans again back to some of the crisis ones there are grants out there uh onetime emergency Grant uh we did get approved for some emergency funding due to the the flooding this spring uh for veterans that ended up with flood damage uh was not a lot but every little bit helps when you're uh when you've lost so much uh there's State housing and employment search so somebody comes to us again having some of those housing issues but we're looking at it holistically so are they employed are they underemployed have they looked at getting some help from career force or from the the state macv to try and help with uh employment as well as housing so just looking to see what all there is for for veterans uh and then so for some of our older veterans or more disabled veterans looking at the the the veterans homes uh and some of those to be able to have the the federal government or the state government be able to pay for a lot of the that care that they need so next slide please and then locally uh here in Carver County all of the American Legions and vfw's are part of a veteran Council uh we meet the the first Thursday of every month uh to try and go over what changes there are from our side what we see from the state and federal government what do all the posts need so I can put out that information uh as well as they can bring me their problems this what are this is what they're hearing in from the the local side because unfortunately we can't be everywhere and the problems that we may see here in chasa or that we see in Chanhassen are not going to be the same problems that people are seeing in Watertown or New Germany uh so it's a it's a great opportunity to be able to get some of that back and forth and see what are the the problems of the the veterans and where do we need to try and Advocate more or provide more resources or time and effort uh so we are looking forward to that this next month uh we then partner with uh the county so again back to kind of that morning meeting I had that the South Metro Area homeless meeting there are all kinds of stakeholders in there that we have uh the VA there uh so the federal government we have Stak holders there from the the state so mdva macv uh our office is there so we're all working together to try and figure out what are the problems for these people what can we do locally what other agencies do we need to get involved here with the the county uh is it worthwhile or are we going to be overburdening some of our other County resources uh so one of our recent homeless veterans unable to try and get all the the services needed just due to understaffing from say County Housing they're so overbooked that they're able to just rely on me and the veteran Community to help fix that veterans problems uh and so it works really well to be able to lift up and take some of the load off of other County organizations uh to try and help our our veterans but knowing that they're also there whenever we do need uh and I talked to County Housing I'd say at least every week uh Jen Romero there is fantastic and we I need her help with a lot of things because when it comes to housing that's its own Beast uh so I don't even try to get too much into it and then we work with nonprofits so we get some of those veterans that come in again in that emergency they need whether it's a gas car to try and get to an appointment they need they need some of the the housing help or they need whatever it is we partner not just with the American Legions the vfw's the the other County organizations but organizations like flags and honor uh is that veteran that is now unhoused food insecure do we need to partner with uh Bountiful Baskets here in town do they know where they can get a free meal do they know where where that next uh that next meal that next paycheck is coming from uh so just trying to again look at every veteran holistically and what can we do from the top down federal state locally to make sure that they are getting the benefits that they have earned um that they've done so much for so next so that I'd say in try to keep it brief in just a high level overview so we I'd say do our best and we generally we genuinely care about our veterans uh everybody in our office is a veteran there are three of us that have retired so did over 20 years in the military uh we genuinely want to help every veteran that we can uh it sometimes makes for long days and is extremely stressful uh but when we get that opportunity to to help lift them up when they are at their crisis when we're able to help that surviving spouse who just lost their loved one and has no idea what to do next helping them and just that thank you means the world from one veteran to another that surviving spouse to another uh just knowing that you're still brothers and sisters in arms and looking out for each other uh and so I am thankful to have the best job in the world I've got the best clients in the world and I will stand by it so I am here for your questions chairwoman Commissioners again thank you for your time thank you so thank you for your service I'm I'm interested how how do you how do you connect what's the best way that you connect with veterans right my father-in-law is still finding benefits that he's eligible for and you know he's been retired for 15 years right and and and so I'm just interested how do do people just come into your off like what's the how do you connect with with veterans uh we do we do get a lot of Watkins especially right now being right next to the licensing and voting Center uh so right now we get a lot of walk-ins which is fantastic uh otherwise we try to put out whenever there are changes whenever there's information that is needed to really get out to the public so that they know what benefits are out there uh Facebook our Carver County veteran services Facebook is uh one of the main ways that we do that uh I have spent a lot of time in this first year updating uh really trying to get as much information out on our County website on the Carver County uh veteran service office just part of the County website to make sure that the the resources are there uh we are now also spending some of our state grant that we get every year on Advertising uh so trying to get into bars restaurants uh places that people go uh that we that isn't maybe the American Legion the vfw's because we we kind of corner the market on on those we already know uh those veterans so finding the veterans that we don't know about or the ones that are are it's a lot of My Generation I would say uh that we're too involved in family we have other things going on and we're not exactly a part of an American Legion of VFW some of those Social Clubs uh we are terrible at asking for help and so I'm hoping that being getting some of that advertising at restaurants and places that they may take the family out for dinner at least letting them know where we are uh because some people still think we are in Waconia at the Historical Society and we have not been there in uh eight years or so it is just some of those little things uh we try to come out to events and fairs uh have booze just to be able to get information out uh but that is I would say is one of our our challenges uh and what we're trying to overcome is where where are the veterans how do we get information out to them best uh and it's only made even more challenging without uh newspapers around anymore um I have a followup to that that it sounds like you rely mostly on Veterans coming in to talk to you um I'm thinking about I know some people who like you said are proud and do not want to maybe come and ask for the help what do you do you deal with like family members or a concerned friend of theirs that will call in and say hey can you reach out to this person yes uh we have had definitely an uptick in that uh We've helped uh some veterans recently too just they're just a single veteran uh taking care of themselves living alone and their neighbors uh who would routinely check on them just noticed Health seems to be kind of becoming a problem can somebody just go and check on him and so we started that dialogue with him and realizing that maybe entail do anything he's never sought VA Healthcare he's never sought benefits you're open to referral kind ofes us opportunity to to find a veteran to get in front of that veteran to be able to try and advocate for them and figure out what what do they need and where can we help um yes we that's why we try to do Outreach we try to get out as much as possible uh we are speaking at some of the the senior centers uh just because they tend to have a lot of the the health issues and we want to make sure that they are informed on all of the the health care and the benefits that are available to them uh we deal a lot with spouses uh because veterans even when we have that sit down and talk with the veteran and their spouse usually they are the ones with the questions they're the ones with the follow-ups uh veterans were we like to be able to just accept whatever is given we're oh thank you okay no questions and the spouse is like well I've got like five so can we stick around like yes what are the questions uh cuz we want to make sure that everybody is informed in the family uh because the the spouses are the ones that typically notice those Health declines are notice them having to say what every 5 seconds and they're not hearing me anymore uh the TV is now turned up to 85 when it used to only be at 32 so just some of those things we we need and we rely on the the spouses to to help us as well yeah but yes I would to answer your question I will take any referral any way I can get in front of a veteran to make sure that they are helped good to know yes and I I would just say for our viewing audience and for all of you we're fortunate in the city of chasa we have uh several years ago the Carver County Community Development agency partnered and uh we offer or this through the CDA um has partnered and has four units for veterans um right here in our community yes so we have we have filled those there are a couple vacancies we made sure to get filled this this year uh there are three more currently uh up I believe in the lake Grace Apartments also here in chasa that are on the verge of being filled uh so we are yes working to make sure that our our veterans are being housed uh and uh there is I believe a new building another new apartment that will also have a couple uh veteran flagged uh vacancies so we will be able to continue to help our veterans uh when they come to us with those housing crises yes we are big proponents of all of our our partners and stakeholders on and CDA is absolutely one of them um Martin do you have any questions I do not Jen not no I'm but no further thank you so much for taking time from your schedule um for and being here with us um first of all you might be a little bit concerned because the audience is not full in the room but know that um like many things we watch from home and so our uh Human Rights Commission are broadcasted at home uh or on the TV uh so your message can be heard by hopefully many others um but thank you so much I as we said earlier um we want to help and lift up our veterans in our community if there are resources or programming that you think that the Human Rights Commission can do here in chasa please let us know I will absolutely keep that in mind thank you very much chairwoman and and all of you for your time tonight uh and all of you at home I I hope uh I see you in our office at some point Come on by say hi great thank you so much all right thank you all you're welcome to stay for the rest of the meeting but we know that family commitments and time well the Vikings start in 8 minutes more important family no pressure okay I best we get onto this agenda um okay um minutes from last month we still need to adopt the agenda oh my gosh thank you Jen um may I have a motion to adopt the agenda can I add something to yes you may of course um I would like to add just that we talk a little bit about the Forum we attended in New Brighton oh it is down there okay it was called something different than what I was looking for I believe I believe we've included that on the agenda um any other additions deletions if not um the agenda is as but probably we should have a motion to approve in that case I can we have a motion made by R and you're going to Second it all in favor I I oppos excellent um now we can take a look at our minutes from August 22nd and just to note for our viewing audience um we'll talk about our September uh Gathering of both the City Human Rights Commission and others um a little bit later in our agenda under the equity commissioner form recap so any changes to the minutes having heard none may I have a motion to approve so moved thank you Brit is there a second seconded seconded by Ren if there's no questions all neighbor approving the minutes of August 22nd signify by saying I I I I oppose eyes carry thank you Treasurer report the very important treasurers report Elise would you be so kind as to go over our numbers I think the last meeting add to the budget a commitment of $2,000 for Cal Heritage Month your India uh that was voted at $2,000 um toward that so your balance is uh just over $2500 great does anybody have any questions about what you what's on our budget for this year or expenses yes we do we know how much we spent on the cultural here just one um I when we do um uh where is it 6f I can give you a rough estimate I kind of consulted uh with um Kevin today um but right now I can tell you that although it was authorized for $2,000 we're right at about $1,000 next month we have the exact breakout yes any other questions if not may I have a motion to approve the the budget as printed on October 24th motion to approve the budget financial report thank you it's the treasurer's report second thank you Martin thank you Jen there's no further questions all in favor signify by saying I I I opposed eyes carry okay committee reports gosh we have a lot to talk about um the Dr King uh subcommittee report um I'll be giving that tonight uh the members of our group are commissioner funders um Hana Sanderson excuse me um commissioner Kevin me and myself and we have an outside uh outside of the commission members uh participating with us um Stacy Kumar Nelson and I'm pleased to announce that we have a speaker um her name is Shayla Michelle Reeves she is a WCCO anchor she's also a book author and um we're excited about having her be with us on January 11th 20125 um we' of course reached out to our District High School and uh Middle School bands we're waiting to hear their answer um we are putting together some guidelines for an essay contest Martin several years ago you suggested that we do something in order to um work and support and celebrate Black History months during the month of February so we're hoping that we can have some uh an essay contest that uh um we can celebrate um during the month of February with a presentation here at the Human Rights Commission and um we'll be announcing that at the Dr King celebration in January we've reached out to uh Fort Wayne Indiana the Minneapolis Commission on civil rights and hormell industries for some suggestions and guidance on how they've conducted essays in the past um and so that we can put together a good program that we think uh our children our youth excuse me probably would participate in um commissioner Sanderson Sanderson that's a combination of and her name so so sorry Hana if you're watching at home um coloring contest we're going to have a coloring contest for age categories 1 through 4 and Age 5 through eight and we have a host um identified and accepted our respon the responsibility of leading the meeting and that is Steve Curtis who is is the executive director of the Southwest Metro and we're looking forward to that opportunity to reconnect with the Metro uh Chamber of Commerce uh for those of us and perhaps some of you at home you'll recall that the Metro or the Chamber of Commerce used to participate with us much more so they're reconnecting and rejoining um and so we're we're pleased to have their partnership coming alongside of us um in that effort um gosh I those are the highlights um you'll hear more in November and December oh one more thing um we are looking as in years past you'll recall that we purchased a series of books suggested by our um school district and made them available as gifts to some of the audience uh we'll be doing that again this year I have a list from the district that they've sent to us in addition um Shayla Michelle Reeves has written a book called echo in the distance it's for a young reader but I think uh we'll also try to have many of her books available for for uh the audience um where is it going to be held we will be at the chasa Event Center yeah um and um we anticipate it will be a uh an interesting uh day because it falls on inauguration day for our government so we'll see it it should be an exciting day um all right any questions that I can answer women's appreciation um I don't think we've got any updates on that committee okay um Asian and Pacific Islander I don't think we have any opportunities there at at the present time um The Pride Celebration um I did have a question about that I know that two of the subcommittee members are here um did you receive by chance an evaluation uh sent To Us by the um Harvard County Pride program that we participated in I have not received anything could it have come via email I I don't know um I saw one of the organizers of the event um earlier this month and she she thanked us for coming to the event and supporting that Carver countywide um program of celebrating pride and she asked if we were interested in participating in again next year and I said well um I don't know we have some ideas and some suggestions for you and she said oh well you should have received an evaluation form and I didn't know if if it had come to either of you has it come to the city okay so maybe I'll just reach back out and because I think that that's something that um the committee for next year can take a look at and determine whether or not that brought any benefit I know Ren was there with me that day um if there was true benefit associated with us having a booth there um if there are resources or other time commitments that we would uh may choose to to do in lie of that event so okay I wonder if Kevin because Kevin was the point of contact so I wonder if Kevin got it oh okay um Kevin thank you Elise um nothing for River City days ah the cultural heritage month oh my goodness well our cultural heritage event for this year is celebrating India and so at each of your uh along with your agendas tonight you you have a flyer that talks about what it is that we're going to be doing tomorrow evening at the lodge at which is located adjacent to the community center um we think um and I should tell you that the subcommittee of ji who had to leave um uh Yousef and Kevin Wright from the city has been diligently meeting and planning and looking at resources and figuring out what we can do and we're really thrilled to be able to offer this event to our community um so uh you might wonder about where your cultural clothing um if you have a Heritage that you uh generally associate with an identity of clothing please feel free to wear that and come to our event um but we'll have food we'll have games uh unique from India um crafting we're doing some traditional dancing um so I will'll have a scavenger hunt I did I see a copy of the scavenger hunt with our things I believe it was just just for me thank you just for me but we'll have a coloring opportunities we'll have a scavenger hunt um for the young people that are there and so please come um I think it will be a lot of fun um so that's our cultural heritage month celebration I have a quick question yes please is there any kind of online sort of advertising of the event that EX EXs or anything I there's a at least in my neighborhood I know I have a fairly large kind of Indian population and I would and we've got a Facebook page that I would love to post it on I've seen it on the city Facebook page so you can share from there I can just kind of share that and that's that's what I did okay all right I'll do that um so I was sharing earlier you know why is chasa doing this well uh because collectively we identified many members of our community um have chose chosen chasa to live um and their their Heritage their Roots come from India and so how do we in our community make our our chasa more welcoming and engaging and so this is one way that we feel that we can lift this up and see um and to and to show and to demonstrate so I'm I'm hoping it will be a success um and it certainly Falls in line with some of the goals and objectives that we have set forth in terms of um encouraging a welcoming Community for all here in Chasco um I can so the total expenses at this point in time although we initially asked for over asked for $2,000 which the commission approved we we've been excellent stewards I think of our money um and we are holding expenses right now at a thou around $1,000 um uh and that means we we've done a lot of shopping at garage sales and consignment shops to get those wonderful decorative lights that you'll see tomorrow when you arrive so um uh I I think we've been good at good good so far um and uh we'll have one special feature we'll have is a Children's Story Hour um a an a woman who uh has currently working in conjunction with the Dakota County Library um will be coming and reading two books for young people in English Hindi and Bengali so um we're excited about that um to occur between 6 and 7:30 tomorrow night at the lodge okay um just wanted to give everybody an update if you didn't see indigenous people's recognition um uh went to went to city council and and the mayor signed the uh resolution appointing the second Tuesday of the month of October as indigenous people's day for the city of chasa and that was posted on our Facebook page and the city Facebook page so um thankful for the Commission in supporting that and bringing it forward to City Council Members um veteran acknowledgement yes so uh we uh had a chance to meet um our intent is to um uh highlight four or five uh veterans uh local veterans in the community uh we reached out to the um uh VFW as well as the American Legion uh commanders uh have yet to hear back from them but I talked to Steve and he's going to help push that along a little bit uh so uh the intent is that we will um provide them with three or four questions and just through our social media and then hopefully be picked up by the the city to highlight and and recognize four or five veterans uh during the month of of November so uh we're heading that direction and um I think I think with Steve's help we'll we'll get there so I I would imagine some random Hotmail account coming to a veteran probably is it would been a little intimidating so I'm I'm happy to have an introduction so that be good it's great um thank you for doing that and heading that up um Community Partnerships well some of you were able to go to New Brighton and I can't wait to hear what you have to say and what you learned and if you have any recommendations for us and um was it worth it and I could probably think more but let me turn over to to one of you who or all of you fill in I have a few notes um first of all I'd like to say that um at The Forum we didn't write a lot of notes because we were told that we were going to get a whole bunch of the notes sent to us from each table um but they have not arrived yet she was at a conference I was at today so I know she's been busy so we may have updates next month excellent but I will tell you I mean thank you to Brit for driving us up there we are we carpooled Brit Kevin and I carpo to New Brighton and um met with several Metro human rights commissions or human rights adjacent groups from different communities around the Twin Cities um and they put on a fabulous welcoming event for everyone they had it set up to as like a World Cafe style so there were many tables around the room and they all had certain topics you know that were designated for that table so you kind of walked around um to what interested each commissioner and had Sation about that topic at that table and we switched so we could do different tables and things um it was great to hear the different ways that human rights commissions um are implemented in the cities um there's very different types of commissions I feel like um you know we like we talked about how our role is that we educate and advocate in our community we do a lot of events there are several other commissions that do kind of the way that we do there are other commissions that um seem to focus on policy um not that they make the policy but they work in conjunction with their city council to affect policies that the city will then adopt um such as renaming a park or um you know like offering certain city services that they see a need for or something um identifying areas of the community that maybe need to be lifted up or represented better at the city level so that's I think primarily the New Brighton commission is the one they and they're a newer commission they were just established a few years ago and from the outset decided that they wanted to be more policy focused and so that's sort of that's how they were founded um and they've it sounds like they also have some they have a I can't remember what her role is like a Dei director or something on their City staff oh and her name is we and she um she is not only a city staff member focused on that but also there liaa on so um she is able to bring a lot of that stuff um I'm not saying any I appreciate everything you do Elise but I also know you're the um assistant City administrator and so you have a lot on your plate and so it was interesting to hear the different lens that maybe different city staff take depending on what their role is in you know um City Administration and things and um one thing I know we were talking about like this success of Human Rights commissions and an overarching theme I heard was that we just need to have trust established between the council and the commission um whether you are an events focused or a policy focused or whatever it's just um something that's important to build a relationship and have the trust that the Commissioners are going to you know identify things that maybe the the council would not know about bring them to the council and just highlight different areas that maybe were a blind spot for them at previously I know there was also discussion about from some commissions you know how to get the youth Voice or youth engagement um because they are a passionate group and they can bring a lot of insight that adults may not have um and I was is I was really pleased with how chasa kind of runs how we have engaged sort youth uh Commissioners and you know we failed spots and I feel like we do a good job of reaching out to our schools and so that was a kind of a moment of Pride that I personally had um question for both of you um were there other similar sized communities similar size in to chasa size present or was it primarily Metro let's see there was New Brighton um there was Robinsdale okay Richfield think minona yeah Minonk I mean so there was probably larger communities for the most part but at one table I said that there was the assistant City administrator from Savage and excellent um and he is exploring a Human Rights Commission in their City and it was really interesting to talk about you know what his hopes are for it and stuff and he was just kind of hearing how it could look you know hearing what other people are doing and stuff um and they did say that they would like to make this an annual event and I would highly encourage everybody to go to it if they can next year um I think the confirmed I can't remember which Community it was but I think it'll be a Westside Community next year so we'll be a little close try to move around so excellent I gonna say we could volunteer chasa but yep great yeah um and the last thing I was gonna say is somebody at this forum I don't I didn't write down who said this but um we were just talking about like import important values of the commissions and things and somebody said um that they always try to remember that we're doing the work by building on the work that was done by other Commissions in the past and I think that's really important to know because what we're able to do today is because somebody started this commission they also did these activities or events or whatever and that's allowed us to continue and work on the things that are currently in the focus of our community so it sounds like you well worth it yeah absolutely it was fantastic I think everyone kind of wished it would have been a little longer it went really fast okay yeah it's great to be in a room with like-minded people absolutely yeah I will say we attended a forum or a GU gaing of commissions several years ago um that was not put it was put on at the University of Minnesota this was quite different from that in that we just got to chat about how things are going what are your challenges what are some ideas that are working um I feel like it provided really good insight for us great well thank you for for making the track um and hopefully you'll you'll get more information and we can discuss it further yep I think that Elise will get her soon as I receive it I will send it on great um we have some new business to come before us this evening um and that was included in our packets I don't know what page it's on but seven seven thank you on page seven of our so Latino voices of Minnesota has worked in conjunction with the Human Rights Commission for the past two years in uh in creating an aenda um at the chasa community center and if you have not visited the community center this year you should um to see that arrenda and also the related art um associated with The Day of the Dead celebration um this year Latino vo has asked has asked the Human Rights Commission to um help support their events um and that that's plural events that will be happening this year one is the uh Construction um and decoration of an arenda at the chasa Event Center um which is on Sunday October 27th at 1M um and then participation in the Katrina uh parade that they're having on November 1st and that's followed up with um agencies and organizations um having an event of Music performances traditional sweet Mexican bread uh Latin American craft vendors at the chasa event center and um this is something that we have uh supported in the past um we recognize that this is a a celebration um that uh we can lift up and so we asked them what kind of a budget were they looking for to uh carry out their events for this year and we encourage them to participate and engage other nonprofit organizations and uh businesses here in jasa to help support that their event um they asked for over ,000 and with the assistance of Elise um we were able to take a look at the kind of costs and also taking a look at the costs that we have associated with our events here for the balance of the year and and um uh I'm I'm recommending that we endorse and support this event to the tune of $850 um this is consistent with the dollar amount from last year um that we uh we gave to them the Katrina parade is um an expansion of what what they're offering to do with the the two friend do I think and that is to provide um to provide an opportunity for those of us who don't um know about the Day of the Dead celebration and what that tradition means for many um individuals that have Heritage roots from Mexico um we're not making a religious statement here this is not scary Halloween costumes or um trick-or treat kinds of things it is a traditional event that celebrates members um of families that have passed away by celebrating um joyous moments um recalling their loved ones lives and so um uh I have been attending meetings with uh Latino voices planning this event going forward um I there is uh RG Insurance Agency is a member the uh Chas chasa police community relations is a is a member and has been participating and we've really encouraged them to reach into the community identify other organizations and resources that would be there to um showcase help showcase this tradition um and so I hopefully I can answer your questions if you have any questions about supporting uh this organization um in the amount of $850 I think it sounds great no questions should Define what a frienda is okay an a frienda um is a um think of a large L oversized altar with a very large Altar and on the altar there are various levels of of uh items items okay so I think that the first level and I'm by no means an expert so please do not do not say Sarah knows everything um but but items that perhaps your favorite the favorite beverage of your family member so for me that would be a cup of coffee um uh because coffee that's what we drink in our in my home or it might be a bottle of Coke or something bottle Coke things that represent what your loved one loved right then there's levels of food your favorite their favorite food angel food cake or um uh a sweet pastry or uh I don't know whatever then um then there's another layer and I don't know what that is I don't remember and then the top layer are images are photographs photographs of your family members so participants are encouraged to bring uh photographs of their family members that have passed uh or people that have been significant in their lives and so they're they can at are at the top um U merry gos uh the yellow gold uh flowers are very prevalent um I'm so glad you're looking it up Martin because I'm just winging it here you're doing well I'm just trying to find the name of the there was a Disney movie Coco you're right it's the best movie that explains it if you've seen Coco then you kind of and it's and it's not it's they do a very nice like very respectful job in in kind of explaining it and talking about the importance of family and and how it and how it impacts your culture anyway it's fantastic yeah if you haven't seen it you should you should yeah well thanks I have not seen it so I guess I will go and see it um I was gonna add to that too that one thing that Latino boices has added or has always Incorporated with this is that any community member is invited to bring a photograph whether you have a Mexican Mexican heritage or any other background um they want to just bring community members together to honor the loved ones who have pass and as part of that is this Katrina parade and so the event will start out at uh November 1st at 5:00 p.m. uh with a gathering at Veterans Park where we celebrated pride and we'll walk across the bridge to the uh firemen's Park and into the event center and there at the Event Center um we are asked as the commission to help support um or be present at a table uh not spinning the wheel um but um promoting um the events that that we do each year so I'm hoping that one or two of you might want to volunteer for that fun event um I think I can be there excellent thank you I'll enjoy standing beside you um and anybody else that's there so um I will be there too excellent wonderful um it's it's geared for all ages so um and there'll be there'll be prize contests there'll be a host post all communication throughout the event will be in both English and Spanish so uh so everybody understands what's going on so probably come but I'll have to bring one excellent wonderful love it L I just I'm gonna say I'm not gonna be able to that's okay really Advocate I think this is a it's a great event and it's grown over the years for Latino voices but I also want to just acknowledge them for the partnership they've given to us over the years because they show up and help us out a lot at many events and so I think it's great that we can offer to do the same for them I agree so I would ask for um I guess I I would make a motion that the Human Rights Commission support uh L voices in their Day of the Dead celebration and their Katrina parade in the amount of $850 I think we should hold off on that just for a second okay and only because we didn't discuss the money portion we just kind of explain what this is but how much does that leave us for other things such as buying books or whatever else we wanted to do for the well um the reality with our budget is and our treasur dollars that remain um and trust me when I tell you Martin I've been counting the pennies um so that we have enough money to do the kinds of things that we talked about which were um buying um merchandise swag for our events in 2025 and uh purchasing much needed tablecloth Andor Banner kinds of things for promoting the human rights commission when we go out to various events so um the books for the Dr King celebration um we might look at that list in December but they would not be oh and they would be purchased but not paid for until January um is that my correct understanding no the books we can purchase this year we can't it's likely the rest for m MLK celebration we cannot pay for until 2025 it looks like especially given that you've only spend $1,000 that we'll have even after those $350 you still have $2500 left before the end of the year that we'll need to spend and and just a quick look at the tablecloths and the we should be okay I mean it looks like it but Martin is incredulously looking at my well she they estimated $1,000 being spent I just want us to have a like a realistic look so if they you know it might come back, 1500 or 12200 sure which is fine I'm not arguing that or anything sles um if out of $2,500 left you take $ 850 um towards that will $1,800 be enough to cover whatever we want to do for the rest of the year whether it's buying books or tablecloth whatever it may be swag for this next year or whatever is that enough are we okay with that amount if we're okay with that amount then is the 2,000 already taken out of our total budget so we have 2,500 after that's okay yes and anything that would not be spent well I certainly don't want us to be um to uh spend all of our money and then at the end of the year say oh my gosh we weren't able to do X Y or Z and we thought that having this would enhance our ability to be at events in 2025 so that is not my intent at all well I just just looking at the the most expensive options on the banner and the table would be $400 total so that includes the stand up banner and a tablecloth um and so then you know that still leave us $1,400 $1,300 to spend before the end of the year on I I don't know if there's other things that we swag I don't know what we spent last year I don't think it was $1300 it was about $900 and about $500 for the books yeah so that puts us ballpark especially if you you have extra for after I think we'll be okay Martin now is that the best words I can tell you um I I don't know um but I what comes to mind to me is is that when and I think you were present when we gave a year in review to the city council members back in February January or February of this year the city council said if you need more come to us and although I certainly don't want to come back to city council and say oh by the way we've spent all the money that you gave us um I would look to other organizations and and uh individuals to help support us so that we do not need to go back to city council and say we need extra dollars um although we should ask the city council to include money in their budget for us for next year absolutely with that I say that we ask for at least 8,500 for next year I'm throwing that out so everybody can think about that for next month excellent point Thank you can I second that I think that there is a motion on the floor already um so I'll entertain your Motion in a in a moment or two but there is a motion on the floor to uh support Latino voices with the dollar amount of $850 second it and there has now been a second is there any further discussion I have more discussion yes please I think we should just give them the, if they want year after year I I just want us to have a a real honest look at okay here are the finances this is what we want to do that's all I want to do um I think year after year we've been improving we've been gaining ground we've been moving forward you know I would like to see us support something like this the proposal is professional right they just walk up and say I need this somebody typed it up took the time flowers I think this is a good opportunity for the city to support our Latin ex community and it's a good way for us to learn about this particular culture and participate and I would encourage everybody to Google what Katrina means so when you show up you show up properly and you're not surprised and also participate so I say we should amended to $1,000 and just take care of it that's just my opinion and your voice is important I would add I would only offer this and that is the proposal came in I was impressed with the proposal um I shared it with um our staff liaison who took a look at some of the uh itemized expenses and realized that due to Financial limitations from our city treasurer we cannot purchase prizes quote unquote and so because they submitted their budget that included uh 300 over $300 $350 I think for prizes um and uh my awareness of The Limited dollars that we have for the balance of the year uh and knowing that we were trying to do this other cultural event I I agreed with the city treasur recommendations and Alisa's recommendations that we take that dollar amount out from the over, $119 that they asked for I will tell you that because I've been participating in the planning meetings um those prizes have they have been able to reach into and tap another organization that is willing to offset those prizes that cost of those prizes so they have funding for the prizes just so you know that I don't dispute what you say at all I think that we have been um attempting to to support we have supported the arrenda from a little tiny little corner in our local market area to a much bigger presentation and educational event at the community center um um I I think that this is clearly um a larger event um and um they are a struggling organization uh in terms of their finances I I I would say that um they have not received a level of Grant funds that they've been able that others have been able to achieve um money is tight everywhere so that's the that the recommendation went from $1,019 to $850 because to meet statutory requirements by the city okay so thank you for the amendment but uh do you re do you withdraw your amended Amendment yes okay all right so is there any other further discussion oh you look like you wanted to say something Brit okay all right so um motion is midmade and seconded uh to approve $850 payable to the Latino voices of Minnesota to offset cost for the Katrina parade and the AES plural um for the city of chasa on November 1st um and the arenda setup on October 27th at the chasa Event Center all in favor of that motion signify by saying I I I hi those opposed eyes carry thank you I hate to do this I'm supposed to be in cona in four minutes okay I don't know if we need to just quickly tell us uh which which thing do you want to buy oh you want stand up banner and you want a table CL yeah I like the tablecloth with yeah I like the one without the back because we tend to use under the table a lot but I am fine if we want to do the back one vote on that in November sure we can we don't have to rush him make a choice okay thank you yeah sorry I just we usually don't go this long I um so no feel like I smell everyone keeps leaving me I know you want to move down yeah you'll never sit on this side of the table um let's see the other thing that we have under new business is the chasa human rights award and so this comes as a result of last year um well no as it grew out of a discussion last year of how do we evaluate the nominations that are coming in for the city of chasa um human rights award and so a criteria which is listed on page 13 of your agenda packet has been developed and I I think probably the most important thing for us to know about is um is its time n ations are being accepted as we speak uh for this special event or excuse me for this special award that's given to an individual an organization um or even I guess a business um for outstanding service um to the city of chasa residents um the criteria was developed for us to help determine who would be the award recipient and so the categories that we looked at was does the does the nominee live or conduct business in chasa at the time of the contribution contribution represents a substantial effort toward winning or preserving equality and justice for groups of people whose circumstances make them vulnerable to Prejudice discrimination or Injustice the number of classes of people impacted the number of people impacted and was the services by the nominee provided as part of their work or above and beyond their normal job slash business um what do you think I think those are good questions to look at I think this is good for n who have an idea of what we're going to be kind of looking at as we choose the recipients for the award um I would also encourage any Commissioners to kind of keep these in mind as they're out in the community and they ether see an individual or organization that might be someone to consider for a nomination or to share kind of the gist of what we're looking for with your Circles of people that you know some years we have had great success getting multiple nominations some years we show up at the meeting and we have to brainstorm what are are people doing in this community and that's a tough place to be in and it's really great when we get outside nominations from people other than on the commission not saying that Commissioners can't nominate someone but we don't always see what other people are noticing or what is Meaningful to other people in the community and so I think it's important to get the word out that we need nominations we should be applauding these um individuals or organizations because they are making a difference in our community how do we normally advertise for this is it just Word of Mouth jasica Herold is gone so um this year uh we'll we'll certainly do the social media PL platforms there is a new digital organization that's um getting their getting a presence it it is limited not in terms of what people want to do with it but it is local uh do you know their name uh uh local is it Carver County local news similar to that or words to that effect so that's a new digital uh newspaper format that uh folks here in chasa have been um getting together planning um they have a website there were they did a candidate Forum excuse me uh a candidate voter guide um that's out there um good people organizing this event or this uh platform so I I see that that would be a logical opportunity um and then it's Word of Mouth do we I mean is the form only paper or is there an online form no we um it's a fillable PDF form right and so I was wondering if we wanted to post maybe at you know natur Al areas of gathering um like the community center or maybe like churches or other religious or the library if we could put like a QR code up on a some sort of um word I'm looking for those things that stand up like you could put it on or it's just standing there and someone walks up to a desk or they a reception area or a check-in and there's a something post the QR code yeah yep and the form would be there yeah yeah I I think that that's a great idea um is that something that we could ask Communications to to do yeah it when you all um approve it if you approve it this tonight I will work with our Communications team and we'll kind of come up with all these different ways to get it out so one of the things that we didn't do and there are no changes to the actual nomination form itself so that's included in your packet on page 12 um so again like I said they they go out with um all any any way that we can get the information out is great the nomination form is similar to the same award or same format that we've used in years past um and the criteria is the piece or the evaluation is the piece that we we felt coming out of last year um would be helpful to commission um to determine let's say last year we had seven applications um how do we evaluate um how do we say oh well this person yes this organization has done X Y and Z and they've done it maybe all in Chanhassen although they may live in chasa we are honoring and uplifting and awarding for a a chasa organization so or individual and on page 11 is the list of previous recipients sometimes I forget that you weren't here when we did this last you're just such a pro so it's good you're asking questions um I would say that all of the organizations and individuals that have received the award um are still engaged in our communities uh with the exception of two um still doing great work excuse me with the exception of three oh no launch Ministry is now gone too never mind four um but individuals who volunteered for those organizations or participated or were staff um of the organization when it was in existence here in chasa are still here in in our community and still doing and contributing to good things uh we might see them in other areas um doing their work uh but they're still here I have a question for you um I know that we have translated some other um materials that we have for printed things are we able to get this translated into Spanish and Somali I will follow up and see if that's a possibility especially kind of the criteria I think is important because that's a lot of words for someone whose first language isn't English Okay um any c sure our viewers um I'm getting clarification they would like the App application to be easier too much work to nominate did we have a different form of this last year this has always been the same form it has um and I would say our files include applications that have been handwritten um there's no there's no requirement to have it typed up or printed it's just if you want to do it that way you can they've been they've come in on single sheets of paper um handwritten on this form um is there any way that we could have them just fill it out online and submit it because I just imagine people would have a phone and we can we can make like a Microsoft form or something like that we we do want probably some paper copy so we could take whatever the paper copy looks like and put it into an online form would that help do you think um I think that I don't bear with me they're stating you can get the initial nomination and then go back and follow up later maybe it's taking maybe I want to nominate somebody but for me to sit down and you know type up okay they did this I might not have enough time to do that but if I can put just like a general description maybe we have gotten nomination forms before that have short descriptions and and longer descriptions but we have always followed up with the recipient for sure the prison that we all decide as a commission but also um if we're not familiar with the organization then we can follow up if we have questions before we vote on it I mean could we simply put some of these criteria in into the form not specifically as they're outlined here but ask a question you know what is what has nominated organization individual um so I don't really know if where they're located is something we want to put on there but like who did they help you know how often do they engage in this activity I don't know like more straightforward questions that kind of could probe and like short answer yeah and get an idea of what we're working with and then dig deeper if we need to maybe yeah yeah it go faster if you're pulling up your phone and you know you type in the person's name in phone number okay they I don't know they worked at Target and they gave away 500 shirts I'm just showing out that you can type that in real fast send it and you know if we want to follow up with it maybe we can follow up with it or something along those lines would makeing it easier like saying you know simple yeah I um could we make the nomination form question and answers um I'm thinking last year after nominations came in and we made our decision um one person shared with me that they really wanted to have XYZ uh nominated and but they just just didn't get around to filling out the form so and that the concern was is that it would take me too much time to say all the things that this person had done well um so I'm Gonna Be The Devil's Advocate we want to hear about the person's contributions um if it's a yes no question we won't get that how what did this person do is it getting the person's name in maybe we start this process too late every year maybe we should start it in June or July but um to say okay Robert Henry let me nominate this person because they did X and then when once we see it maybe we can I don't know I'm just throwing maybe we can do a little bit of research say oh okay so they did this this year and then go back to the person who nominated them and say okay we need more information from you now you need to take the time to fill out this form um I think it I think that's a great idea Martin but I think it puts the burden on either one of us to follow up or it puts the burden on Alise or liaison to do that and I I would have to ask Alise if she'd be willing to take on that task well I think it would it would fall on all of us because if all the nominations come man you would just hand those to us regardless of what they look like and it takes us 5 Seconds possibly to Google a person to see what they've done or not maybe they show up maybe they don't but then go from there it's like okay if we decide on this person then we can simply go back to whoever nominated and say okay you need to figure this out or we just move on but you can get more names that way or maybe not maybe it's not a we could also do maybe a middle ground where it's so this is very open-ended and I mean I wouldn't necessarily want just yes no questions but if we had just a few probing questions that could at least get us started down and you know an understanding of who these nominees are but it doesn't feel overwhelming for the person doing the nomination um I mean I was yeah I wasn't really thinking yes no questions I was thinking something maybe more open-ended or you know that would Pro it would only require a sentence or two in response but it would give us at least a general idea of on that we could put is there something else you think we should know and then then if they want to add an essay they can up to 500 Warriors but I mean it's not the only thing that that were asking in order to solicit nominations yeah I mean I think if we were consistently getting more nominations than we knew what to do with then we could maybe leave it more open-ended and and maybe that would narrow the number of nominations we get but if the goal is to obtain more then I would say kind of lowering the the barrier for those making the nominations especially if there's a language barrier would be useful administratively Elise what would we need to do um maybe gather our ideas give them to you um do we we would want to take a look at it as a commission and approve it um so that's that's November and we're kind of pushing a deadline um is this something that we stay this year with this since it's already um in theory people can already be making nominations and they could have been downloading this the the nomination form all this year because it looks like this it looked like this in June it looks like this in September I ask a clarifying question sure in this form there's lines for address phone number and email address um I'm not sure are we looking for that contact information for the nominated person or the person doing the nomination I that may I think that maybe should be clearer I think in the past it's been the person making the nomination their their contact including their address or is it address of the nomin if you read down it nominated organization individual and then address and then you go to the next line person making nomination their name and the Assumption then is you move on okay all right that's the way I look at it but I know if we could just make it yeah I will clarify that okay and then real nitpicky up at the top it says Chas a Human Rights Commission are we missing a space between rights and commission no actually you're not okay okay looked ahead of that every time I look at this there's space but I will make it like a double space yeah because it almost looks like that in the s for human rights award too it it just must be how the s's fall somehow it's something with that heading I'm not quite sure but I'll fix it so it makes it clear thank you Elise so how do you feel about keeping it as is for this year like basically the same this year I'm fine with it the way it is for this year and work on and I said this previous years I always feel like we're rushed right and to start this put this form out earlier maybe we pick River City days I don't really care when but throw out there and say okay start turning these nominations in now it's due December 12th yes everyone will wait till the end of November um but we're not rushed right we did whatever and it's out there and they'll trickle in as they trickle in or maybe we make the deadline the month earlier they would still wait till the very last minute right they can wait till the last minute but we have some time to to do something with it as a commission and I will apologize this was on my list to do earlier this summer it unfortunately fell the way side so I will make sure it yes ma'am I will give it up my holds um okay so not to belabor the point but what do you think about the criteria because that's something that we will all uzee is this enough to begin to help us and Brit I'm sorry that you haven't gone through this but you'll be our test if this criteria helps us when the decisions come or need to be made um what are these good criteria do we need to be more specific I think it's a good starting point for us we like to stay with it a good start or conversation starter this is just for us correct that is just for us the public will not use this this will just be helping us when particularly as you'll recall Martin we've had uh the past couple of years we've had multiple nominations that um let's see that was in 2021 and last year where uh multiple organizations and or individuals I mean their applications seemingly were uh both merited uh recognition so this might help us narrow that down to perhaps one although we don't want to say it's just one if if we need if there nears if there is more recognition needed we want to maybe add something about the length of time they've been providing services [Music] or sure could we add that yep BR I just want to tell you too that when we when we get the nominations all the nominees are invited personally to the breakfast for Martin Luther King Day um and so they are acknowledged at that breakfast so that even if they are not the recipient of the award they're still you know celebrated that they've been contributing to this community nice yeah oops and the previous recipients are also recognized so with that one suggestion of adding the length of service or time of service or service uh how can we phrase that um and are you just looking for it in the evaluation evaluation yeah yeah I mean I think that would obviously be something that would be help full oh it says including length of time it says in the form as one of the examples nomination form but it's not part of the evaluation I think we could say like over what time period has this been occurring or something if it's only for us I mean they don't have to rate exact time nominee has engaged in contributions so length of time nominee has contributed yeah or engaged in contribution engaged to the community is engaged to the community does that make sense leise to you okay great so I think moving forward though we should probably uh make a motion to approve it with this addition we can't vote oh we can't vote okay I think you'll be okay really this is just internal it's just taking what you've done what you have in your already approved evaluation criteria and just moving it into format to evaluate it so I don't think you need to okay so our booth display options we're going to uh move that to next month's discussion and approval or agenda item for discussion purposes our next meeting date before you move on to that yes sir I would like to move Latino voices talk about that next meeting if we have time partnering with them to um kind of shore up our our relationship figure out what we can do I mean we've got like culture cultual heritage month and all these other things they do a good job putting these things on right you know their their events and I think we should partner with them and figure out something for next year I just like us to talk about it whether it happens or not I don't know but I just like us to have a conversation I don't want to see them fly away in the distance or float off does that make sense are you thinking like a co-chaired event that we both I don't I don't know what it means just partner with them yes every year we give them money maybe a couple times a year whatever but partner with them to accomplish something I don't know what that is maybe it's one of these events or I don't know I don't know great we can put it for discussion purposes um I have a question on the booth options can't was this I I missed I think our August meeting was this something that was brought up at the August meeting yeah okay all right I felt like I was missing some background knowledge I think what we realized this year is that when we've gone to other when we've gone to events um we've needed to have a table covering we have a banner that um has to be specially tied to the tent or um pardon me or it falls down um because we tape it to the table and having a more uh finished product would be uh worthy of our commission and um the logo is different the logo is different from uh our current banner and for those of us who are vertically challenged trying to get the banner attached to the top of the tent it has been risky at best um and so uh if it was on the tablecloth there would be risk reduction would occur that how's that that's great yeah I I we had informally discussed this I think at River City days um and I didn't know you know one of the discussion points at that time you know was what we would want to put on it and one of the ideas that I had brought forth was figuring out a way to convey to passerbys who don't stop at the booth what the Human Rights Commission is and I don't know if that was something we were going to print on this um or if we were just going to have our name on it it was I I just I saw a couple of other banners for other organizations at River City days and it was you know they had their name and then it was maybe listed kind of three sort of action verbs so it's like educate Advocate or you know something like that because we often get asked by people what do you do yeah you know what is your purpose and if there was some way to kind of quickly convey that on a banner I think that would be useful information to include if we're you know making one now might as well do it right I think what we could do um is if that's the direction that's chosen to do like the pullup Banner whatever you all decide um and maybe I can come back in November with some options is to work with our Communications team and kind of look at okay what kind of makes sense um and give you some ideas and um they don't have to be the ideas you choose you can give other ideas just to give you a sense of what might make sense to put on there that' be great Elise if you have time to do it okay long meeting tonight um are there any other issues that we need to talk about tonight we can't vote on anything but we can talk I had one thought at the beginning of our meeting a lot of thoughts tonight um I know we record these meetings and I think they stay up on YouTube sort of indefinitely I was wondering whether there was a way to trim down in some kind of circumstances depending on who the guest speaker is kind of trim down to the guest speaker portion and list that on some other community forums to maybe make it more accessible to members of the community so like the presentation we had tonight um for the Carver County veteran services there was a lot of really useful information in that that I thought you know if we could somehow share that in other ways aside from just YouTube that might at least further their purpose in trying to reach other members of the community talk with our video production staff and understand what the possibilities that that's okay I was going to say that's a videographer item okay that's a good suggestion thanks do you did you have some more ideas I you know I think I'm tapped out now okay um Martin anything are you sure not real okay all right um Jen nothing else okay just generally get out and vote I was going to say a reminder to all of our viewing public that uh decisions about uh community and both on the and the state level county level county level local level state level no local level county level state level and National level um will come before all of us before we all gather I encourage voting um and uh we'll see all of you our viewing public and all of us um at the Katrina parade and are you working tomorrow night oh don't we have the tomorrow night is please show that I you'll have a great you'll have fun guarantee um and you'll walk away with a a greater appreciation of people who have their Heritage Roots um from the country of India so if there's no further business to come before us tonight then I would say our meeting is adjourned I'll take a motion if you want to do that what would you like to motion for adjournment I just didn't know if we could sure you can go right I so moved okay officially over with I just didn't know since porum e