Iowa Civil Rights Commission
Commissioners Meeting
211 E. Maple, 2nd Floor
January 28, 2000


Meeting Called to Order The meeting was called to order by Robert Smith, Chairperson.


Roll Call Iowa Civil Rights Commission January 28, 2000 Board meeting was held in the Iowa Civil Rights Commission ICN room at 9:30 AM. Commissioners present were Mohamad Khan, Rachel Scherle, Alicia Claypool, David Leshtz, Jack Morlan and, Flora Lee and Robert Smith via satellite. Corlis Moody, Executive Director, and Ron Pothast, Business Manager, were also present. Teresa Baustian, Rick Autry, Tina Hayes, and Dawn Peterson come in at various times to present their report.


Approval of Minutes The first order of business was the approval of the October 22, 1999 Board Minutes. David Leshtz made a motion to change the term "rally" to "forum" on page #2, paragraph #2 of the minutes regarding Driving While Black. A motion was made by Alicia Claypool and seconded by Mohamad Khan to amend the minutes to reflect "forum" on page #2, paragraph #2 regarding Driving while black. Motion was passed unanimously.


Commissioners Reports Commissioner Robert Smith - No report

Commissioner Mohamad Khan - No report

Commissioner Flora Lee - (No response)

Commissioner Jack Morlan - No report

Commissioner Alicia Claypool - Reported she had been invited by the Ottumwa Civil Rights Commission to speak (Wednesday night-date?). She found it to be an enjoyable experience and hoped that, as a Commission, more of this type of opportunity would be available.

Commissioner Rachel Scherle - No report

Commissioner David Leshtz - Distributed a handout on the new center for Human Rights at the University of Iowa. Some information is on their web page.


Executive Director’s Report
Financial Report was presented by Ron Pothast. Ron reviewed the financial report with the Board. The Board accepted the report.

Corlis Moody and Ron Pothast will be meeting on Tuesday, February 1, 2000 with the Health and Human Rights Appropriation subcommittee to discuss FY2001 budget request.

Administrative Rules - Ron Pothast reported on the process of adopting the changes made to the Administrative Rules. Motion was made by Alicia Claypool and seconded by David Leshtz to adopt the changes and additions to the Administrative Rules. The motion passed unanimously.

Compliance Report - Tina Hayes reported for the month of November, there were 153 resolutions and benefits of $65,000 plus, and for the month of December, there were 171 resolutions and benefits of $77,000 plus. George Peters explained the backlog consists of cases that have not been assigned and cases from the local commissions.

Education - Dawn Peterson reported in the month of December, there were 13 presentations with a total of 1,537 people present. Other activities included Study Circles, Diversity Meetings, and a presentation on the Iowa Public Television as a member of the Student Voices Panel and a presentation on Archie Bunker’s Neighborhood at East High School in Des Moines. Information Requests calls were 214 and mailed out 6,349 materials which included the Communicator Newsletter. The "I Will Make Me A World" Celebration, February 5, 2000 will be held at the new Historical Building, starting at 10 AM till 6 PM. A list of the 14 Communities the "Freedom Ship" will travel will be sent to all commissioners.

During discussion, a request was made to add comparison data (this year verses last year) to the reports so the numbers quoted would make more sense. George Peters stated he would add that element to the reports.

Old Business Accessibility Issues - Teresa Baustian reviewed accessibility in newly constructed buildings and non-compliance with the Americans with Disability Act Accessibility Guidelines. Teresa also gave an overview of the survey conducted by the Iowa Civil Rights Commission of 99 counties and 948 cities of which 865 responded. Of those, 66% indicated that new construction building plans for multi-family housing units were not being reviewed to determine whether the units were accessible to persons with disabilities. Thirty-two onsite surveys revealed violations of the accessibility requirements in each instance. This indicated that those in the building industry had been poorly informed of the requirements of these laws. Thus, a multi-agency task force produced/distributed a flyer and a more detailed brochure to alert building professionals to legally imposed obligations, locations of further information, and potential costs of remaining non-compliant. She further discussed why the next "step" is a building code that conforms to the design and construction requirements of the Civil Rights Laws, and that without the change in the procedures and some type of enforcement mechanism, accessibility issues will continue to be a problem.


Rick Autry further expounded on the Administrative Rules projects: 1) passing a regulation on Waiver - provision to waive a rule if not working in case processing. 2) Devise a plan for reviewing all of the agency regulations to ensure regulations are not outdated. 3) Rule making Docket - Keep track of rule making proceedings.

New Business Corlis asked for feedback on the layout of the agenda and what information the commissioners would want to have included in their board packet to be better informed/involved.

February 3, 2000 was set for Commissioner’s Retreat for Strategic Planning.
(March) correction

Future Commissioners Meeting No meeting date was set.

Recognition of Public/Press No public or press present at this meeting.

Adjournment Meeting adjourned by Chairman Robert Smith.