COMMISSIONERS’ MEETING
October 22, 1999
Iowa Civil Rights Commission
At
Executive Director’s Office
Iowa Civil Rights Commission
211 East Maple, 2nd Floor
Des Moines, Iowa
MINUTES
October 22, 1999
The meeting of the Iowa Civil Rights Commission was called to order at 9:32 a.m. by Vice Chair, Mohamad Khan.
Roll call was taken:
Robert Smith = absent
Mohamad Khan = present
Flora Lee = present by phone
Jack Morlan = present
Alicia Claypool = absent arrived at 9:35
David Leshtz = present
Rachel Scherle = absent arrived at 9:40
The approval of minutes: David Leshtz moved to approve the minutes. Jack Morlan seconded. The motion was passed with Khan, Morlan, Claypool, Leshtz and Scherle voting aye and Lee abstaining.
The report of the Commissioners:
Morlan, Lee, and Scherle gave no reports.
David Leshtz discussed a forum being held on Driving While Black hosted by the Hawkeye Chapter of the Iowa Civil Liberties Union on October 24. The Iowa City Human Rights Commission has become a HUD agency and can hear housing cases now.
Alicia Claypool told of the success of the Stop the Hate Vigil, with over 500 people attending. They plan to continue the effort by forming a response team.
Mohamad Khan attended the State Diversity conference. He said it was an excellent conference and wanted to attend more workshops than time allowed.
The Executive Director’s Report:
The financial report was given by Diann wilder-Tomlinson for Ron Pothast. The money came in just after the last meeting so there will be no negative balance. He is working on a method to change the way Federal funds are received to alleviate that problem in the future. The Governor has asked for a reduction in the budget of all agencies so they will be looking at that.
The Case Compliance Report:
The report was given by Tina Hayes who explained the variance in the numbers of closures between last month and this month.
The Education Report:
Dawn Peterson gave the report. She handed out flyers for I’ll Make Me A World and discussed this years plans.
Dawn also gave a presentation on study circles and diversity teams around the state.
Executive Director’s Status Report:
The Executive Director, Diann Wilder-Tomlinson reported on the Commission’s co-sponsorship of the successful Diversity Conference. She also thanked the Commission for the plant for her mother’s funeral. She informed the commissioners about the Governor’s decision to conduct a national search for her replacement and his hope that someone will be decided upon by the end of November. Diann thanked George for stepping in at the Stop the Hate rally. There will be a training for new Commissioners hosted by the governor and Lt. Governor that she encourages all to attend. Ms. Wilder-Tomlinson also gave an update on the Governor’s Task Force on Minorities in Iowa State Prisons which she co-chairs with Representative Wayne Ford.
Old Business:
There was no motion but by consensus it was agreed that the proposed Commissioners’ Retreat be postponed until the new Executive Director is appointed.
The preliminary report of the Subcommittee on Adding Sexual Orientation as a Protected Category was given by David Leshtz, Chair. He said the subcommittee has decided to wait to hold any public hearings or forum on the issue. He asked if there were any numbers being kept on incoming calls regarding this issue. Mr. Peters assured him that they are keeping track and will report numbers at a later date. Mr. Leshtz offered a motion that the Iowa Civil Rights Commission pass a resolution supporting Governor Vilsack’s position in favor of non-discrimination in state government employment. Alicia Claypool seconded the motion and a roll call vote was taken. Leshtz = yes, Lee = yes, Morlan = no, Scherle = yes, Claypool = yes, Kahn = abstain. The motion passed. David Leshtz will draft the letter.
The date and time of the Next Commissioners’ meeting was set for November 19 beginning at 9:30 a.m. The meeting will combine the November and December meetings. The first meeting of the new year will be held on January 28, 2000.
There was no press present for the meeting. The public visitors were given an opportunity to speak to the Commissioners.
A motion to adjourn was made by Jack Morlan. The meeting was adjourned.
__________________________ _________________
Diann Wilder-Tomlinson Date
Executive Director