Got to keep going. Welcome. Uh, today is April 24th, 20 >> morning in progress, >> 2026 um, human rights commission meeting. >> We good.
>> Oh my goodness. It's It's April 23rd. I was hoping it was Friday. Sorry. Uh Lee, you want to do the roll call? >> Certainly. Commissioner McCloskey. >> Oh, here. Present. >> Commissioner Duffy. >> Commissioner Carlson. Commissioner Han >> here. >> Commissioner me
>> here. >> Commissioner Hagga >> here. >> Commissioner Sanderson. Chair Hubard >> here. All right. Would you like Do I have a What am I looking for? What's the word? Do I have a uh
>> motion? >> Motion. There you go. Motion to adj to adopt the agenda, please. >> So moved. >> Is there a second? >> Second. >> Mot. All in favor say I.
>> I. >> I. >> I. Any opposed? It's passed. All right. We go through it now. Fantastic. You know, I'm going to need your help. I know you're quiet down. All right.
Um, we have an open forum guest presentation. Is she on Zoom yet? >> Michelle, is our guest on Zoom? >> I'm here. Great. >> Hi. Can you hear me? >> Yes. Thank you. >> All right. Wonderful.
>> So, we do have a speaker. Hopefully, I say your name correctly. >> We do have a speaker. Hopefully, I say your name correctly. Uh, Saiia her, the executive director of the Council on AsianPacific motans. Did I get that right?
>> Uh, very close. >> Oh my goodness. >> Go ahead, madam. >> You're fine. You can go ahead, madam, if you would like to give your presentation to us. >> All right. Well, uh, thank you, commissioners, for having me here with
you this afternoon. Um, it's my honor to be here, and I understand that you're having me join you tonight because we're a couple of days away from May 1st and the month of May is identified across this nation as API Heritage Month. And
so, It's my pleasure to be here. I just turned on my camera. Can all of you see me? And can all of you hear me just fine? >> Yes, we can. >> All right. Thank you, chair and commissioners. Um, my name is Sia.
Again, I serve as the executive director of the Council on AsianPacific Motans. Um, as you can probably already tell, uh, from my name, I am of M ancestry. So, I'm a member of Minnesota's largest
API ancestry community. Um, Minnesota is home to a community of about 360,000 um, Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders. Um, this community is spread across the state of Minnesota. Um, one
of our talking points or one of the facts that we um, usually share with the public when we're out and about is that Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders reside in every single one of Minnesota's 87 counties, although about 85% of us are concentrated in the 7ount
metro area. Um, that gives you a little bit of information about who Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders are and where they reside within the state. My agency itself was founded in 1985. Um 1985
um is about 10 years after the end of the Vietnam War. Um as a result of that war, we saw the largest exodus out of Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam of refugees into the neighboring countries. And um
as a result, overnight Minnesota saw an influx of refugees. Um, at the time the African Heritage Council and the Latino um council were already in place. In 1985, the
legislature at the request of members of the API ancestry communities decided that um a state agency on Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders u made sense because there was this growing community that um would
increasingly consist of new Americans for whom English is not their native language and possibly a growing community of individuals those who were highly traumatized by the Vietnam War.
And so this agency was created by the legislative branch of government in 1985 and it's housed within the executive branch of government. Um unlike um other state agencies, for example, um such as the Department of
Human Rights, my agency is um designed in law to have a high level of authority um and independence from the governor. So, um what this means in practice is that uh our legislative agenda does not
need to be approved by the governor even though we are housed within the executive branch of agents uh of state government. At the time when the agency was created in 1985, um the API population made up of I mean made about up about a percent
or slightly less than a percent of Minnesota's to total population. Today, we're slightly less than 7% of the state's population. Um, we are um Americans with roots that can be traced back to 60 plus Asian and Pacific
Islander nations. If you have had a chance to read our enabling statute, you'll uh learn that um our jurisdiction or the definition of um Asian and Pacific Islander nations straddles
countries east of and including Afghanistan and Pakistan. Um and then the Micronesian islands, um Hawaii. And so you can imagine just how linguistically, culturally, politically diverse Minnesota's API ancestry
community is. Um, as we are approaching the month of May across this state and across the country, there will be plenty of celebrations. Um, you know, the times we're living in are a little bit different. Um, and I don't think I need to go into details um
with all of you um for you to understand what I mean by that, but I expect that across the state and across this country, we will see celebrations and gatherings um hosted by local state government agencies as well as community based
organizations, nonprofit, for-profit um events that are designed around celebrating, recognizing and celebrating the contributions of um Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders. Um here in the state of Minnesota, um
Minnesota's API community uniquely different from the rest of the other states across this country. And that our API community is by a slight majority refugee experience. And you know, so that hearkens back to um what I mentioned earlier at the start of my
time with you, which is the end of the Vietnam War and the arrival of the M, the Vietnamese, the Cambodian, and the Lao communities. Um what that means for this state is that um we uh as a state agency talk about and as we're out and
about in the community, you'll see the stark differences between our communities that came here searching for opportunities in higher education um and uh opportunities um in the employment sector relative to
communities made up of individuals who came here um after decades of civil war in the native country. And so this distinction between um just immigrants and refugees is a distinction that we at the AsianPacific Council um are very
sensitive to because in the public policy realm, whether that's at the local, municipal, or state government, refugees uh if we were to design uh public policies with refugees in mind, they obviously would and should look uh
different and take into consideration very uniquely very unique data points. Um and the same can be said for immigrants. But my point is that uh refugees and immigrants start out in America um with different circumstances
and so the rate at which they acclimate a culturally and achieve their versions of the American dream are different. Um so that's a little bit about the community and the agency. Um my agency
is about five FTEEs uh fully staffed. We're governed by a board of 15 members 11 of whom are appointed by the governor and four uh are and then the remaining four are appointed by legislative leaders. Um
I was asked in um the communication between our two offices um to speak to the important issues of our time right here and right now. Um I can always uh speak uh forever about issues such as
housing, education, um health care, but in this place and in this time I think it's um I would be if I didn't bring up um the fact that we
just uh saw um what many will well operation metros surge and operation Paris um these two um government uh actions or courses of government actions while um we hear that they uh have ended
we at the council on AsianPacific motans we are still um you know very much like our communities were still dealing with the aftermath um operation metro surge um and operation Paris both had um while they were concentrated in the metro area
of course they had statewide impact for us at the council on Asian Pacific motans we between the two um you know we've uh had interactions with community members uh particularly as it relates to
operation Paris I don't know how much um you know I don't want to assume that uh you know um everything about operation Paris or that um your audience knows even what operation Paris is. Paris is an acronym and it stands for post
admission refugee reverification and integrity system. The premise for operation Paris is that um the refugees who uh had were admitted into uh the United States in the last five years may have committed immigration fraud,
meaning they may have u provided uh misinformation to immigration officials um during the vetting process uh while they were abroad. And so, you know, what we saw um during Operation Paris and Operation U Metro Surge was um ICE
picking up individuals in our community uh who do not have a criminal background and who entered this country legally. Um and for the Asian Pacific Council, because we are a community made up of a slight majority of refugee experience
communities, um Operation Paris uh is um extra traumatizing um when refugees who arrived here after decades of civil war on the ground are picked up by agents of the government. um you know
this it's I can't um I can't articulate enough how traumatizing that is um especially given the fact that they are here once they're here um they're of the mind that they're finally safe from government persecution
and then they find themselves on the receiving end of this kind of this nature of government action. Um and it sense um not only does did operation Paris impact the individuals who were picked up by u federal agents um and
oftentimes sent out of the state into states like Texas. Um but uh Operation Paris sent chills through through you know the hearts and minds of the refugee experienced communities here because unfortunately too many of them remember
a time um when their engagement with government brought um government to their doors and as a result they had to leave their native countries. coming to the United States or relo resettling to another country isn't as easy and it's
not as desirable as most Americans think. oftent times or almost always when refugees get to the United States um you know what's what you see is um the fact that the human body survived but emotionally psychologically
um you know my elders for example my am elders oftent times talk about what life was like in the 70s and 80s when they first arrived in the United States and I remember my father talking um about his experience and you know one of the phrases that I have always carried with
me is this this uh perception that you know uh I may have arrived here physically but my soul my spirit you know I left them behind in my native country and when I arrived at the airport you know it was as if I had cut
off my tongue poked out my eyes and you know and so I became blind deaf and mute and I'm here physically because I understand that I need to live one more day for my children but essentially I'm not whole anymore right and so when you have refugees coming into the United
States already so traumatized by their previous life experiences and then you have federal agents showing up and then you hear all over social media and on TV that this is what's happening to refugees, people who have again not committed a crime. They haven't been here long enough to commit a crime.
Oftentimes they're more afraid of us than we are of them. Um and they came here after many many years of being vetted through a an intensive process. um that entails three federal government agencies, one of which is the Department
of Homeland Security, right? So, we at the council um right now in this place and in this time, we're still uh assisting communities under our umbrella uh with coming to terms with Operation Metros Surge and Operation Paris.
Um, and I'll just pause there, um, and move on to addressing another talking point, um, or another request that came in as part of this request for me to speak in front of you. And that's this addressing this question of how can the Chesca Human Rights Commission um,
support agencies like mine or the very community that is at the heart and soul of our statutory role and our responsibilities. um one you can host um in a presentations uh very much like the
one we're having right now. Um two um I think um just as you are out and about in your daily life. um if you see or meet if you meet someone um who looks like me, if you
could just be um extra respectful, I think that that will go a long ways. I don't have um a list of um profoundly impactful actions for you to take right now because I think um
what we all need right now is just an extra dose of kindness. um and respect regardless of our cultural and linguistic and partisan ideological differences. Respect is a universal language. And so when you see
someone who looks like me um or any in any American um assume the best about them and um go out of your way to simply uh demonstrate with your body that you recognize the humanity and the dignity in them. Um the journey to America
whether communities have been here for several generations because they're, you know, their ancestors came here to work on the transcontinental railroad on the west coast or um they are a member of our Kenya, our Karan community and they just started arriving here in the early
2000s. The journey to America has been fraught with all sorts of um you know um difficult steps. And so sometimes when you come across um someone who looks like me, you know,
it's it's safe to assume um that that um arriving in the United States and um you know, going about our daily business um or our daily lives isn't as easy as um the average American might uh like to
believe. And um regardless of how fluent or not fluent we are in English, we are all uh participating in our communities and we are all contributing in one way or another um to the best of our ability.
And so, you know, given how difficult the days and months and weeks have been and then um recognizing where we are in time, I think just the smallest gesture that you recognize the humanity and the dignity and the people around you. Um, you know, that's probably my main ask um
in terms of what um you or I can do for one another. Um, and with that, I'll just pause. I understand that I have uh 15 minutes uh to speak in front of you and I think I may have gone over my 15 minutes and so I want to stop and um say
that I'm happy to take any questions that you may have. Everyone's looking at me. I have to think I have to of a question. I I had when you were speaking earlier, but I forgot. I was very intrigued. Um,
sorry. Give me a You have to give me a moment to kind of question. >> No apologies, Mr. Chair. I' I'm here, you know, I've been in state government for 13 going on 14 years. And so, you can imagine that I've heard all sorts of
questions. Um, and I've heard all sorts of comments and so nothing you say will come as a surprise to me and I've gone before committees time and time again. So, um, I am prepared to address any comments or questions you may have.
chair, if I may, um I I invited uh Miss Her to come in and speak with you. As she mentioned before, um May is Asian-American and Pacific Islander Month. And so to set you up um
for um what might come and just provide you with the educational opportunity to learn more. And while we may not have an event planned for this year, just to provide additional, you know, context and things to think about and just
provide that educational perspective. So, thank you, Miss Her, for being here today. I appreciate you taking the time to um address the commission. >> Thank you. What more could we do with helping,
hope I have the right word, immigrants or those people coming from other countries to our city? What what more can we do? How do we make them feel welcome? Does that make sense? >> So,
absolutely. I would encourage you to um in your capacities as commissioners of the human rights commission, I would encourage you to uh go out and about, you know, beyond the borders of Chaza, engage in the various community events,
you know, not just within the API ancestry communities, but beyond because the more you engage, the more you're going to catch on to nuances that make people's lives what they are. And I think whether those um stories that you hear as you're out and about are of
Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders or another cultural community um that those stories will situate you in a position uh to have greater capacity uh capacity uh for compassion. Um, you know, I'm I I
know that all of you are incredibly compassionate human beings, but I think the more um we learn about the others, the more common shared experiences we have, the greater if it's it's it's it's um you know, totally uh possible to have
greater compassion for those around us. I think um you know you don't I don't know what the city of Chaza has planned um in terms of its cultural events but I've been out there because Representative Nash who uh represents
Carver County and Chaza is there he has been on my board for a very very long time. I've been out and about in Chaza. you know, it's not a city that comes to mind when when I ask myself, where are Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders concentrated? But you in your capacities
um can um spend time in cultural communities and then in your own city when you do come across Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders if the opportunities present themselves for story shel sharing you could share about your experiences engaging with others
beyond the um city boundaries of Chazgot. That'll go a long way to helping to um calm, you know, the other party with whom you're having a conversation and to to letting them know that while you may not have any shared experiences with them directly, you have
met others like them and you've taken the time, you've made it your responsibility and your priority to hear the stories um to hear their stories and see for yourself um you know what the journey has been like to becoming the person that is that they are in front of
you at that moment in time. And so I that's my simple recommendation. I make that recommendation to policy makers at all levels of government all the time. We just cannot underestimate um and I can't emphasize enough the importance of community engagement. Don't wait for
anyone to come to into your space or into events that you host. Take it upon yourselves to find out where are community events happening. And that's you know now that we have made the connection um I hope that you won't be a stranger to my office. I will also keep
you at the forefront of my mind. Um we are moving into a season of uh Southeast Asian New Year's celebrations and so there will be plenty of events. I will send you some invitations and you know you're all welcome to join me at these
various events um where you'll see displays of you know um cultural pride and and you'll hear all sorts of stories and learn a lot but more than anything you're going to see and put in play what we all have in common as Americans and
you know I just oftentimes emphasize that our stories in America may have started out differently but we're all here because we have some values in common and we're all striving um you know toward that more uh perfect union with each other and we each have our own
version of what the American dream looks like for us. And I would just encourage you to be out and about um and not waiting for formal opportunities at all. I'm not making the assumption that you are that that's what you're doing. But I'm saying um take it upon yourselves. Make it a priority to be out and about
and engage with others who um look different from you who you you can safely assume um took a different road to getting to where they are. I hope that was sufficient, Commissioner. Um but if not, bottom line is that I'm
readily available to provide you with um information on community events, data points, stories. I I'm a resource for the state of Minnesota. And so make sure that you use me. >> Thank you. You answered my question.
Appreciate it. Anyone else questions or comments? >> Yes. So you mentioned that like you could be a resource for finding these events or you'd send send us stuff. But like in our own time when we're like at night when we're doom instead of doom scrolling social media, where could a
person like like myself go to find events and for the AAPI community? So I would want encourage you to follow us Facebook although we as a state agency
given just kind of this the uh where we sit within uh government and then within our various communities we are not as active on Facebook as I would like us to be but that's because you know all things considered where we had made some
strategic decisions. So I would say follow our Facebook page and then you know your um you and countless others have continued to um you know uh engage with us in such a way that uh we have arrived at the understanding that we
need to come up with with a tool very very soon here that will allow all motans to just uh go onto our website possibly and click on a community events calendar and see what events are playing out what month you know who's hosting those events who do you need to get aold
of if you want to show up in your capacity as commissioners. Um, and if you have additional questions, who in my office do you contact? Um, so that's uh generally my response for the for the moment. What I can safely commit to you is that um I'll have you on my
assistance radar so that um as we look at the month of May and June um we uh help to communicate uh with you what events are happening so that we don't leave it to you alone to you know doom scroll with with the hope that you're
going to come across some events that you might be able to attend. >> But for I guess just for the immediate term like your website and then on Facebook. Yes, >> perfect. >> Um, and you know just um I you know in this day and age you can just uh type in
anything, right? Um for example, type in Lao community events, type in Vietnamese community events. Um you're going the chances are very good. I I say this because I've tried it several times just so that I can test my own advice um to government officials. Um do that and
you'll come up with some events. Um we have tried several versions of a community calendar. Um that hasn't worked out so well for us and so we um in the next uh I would say in the next week or two we should have a better system in place.
>> Cool. Thank you. >> You're welcome. >> Any more questions or comments? >> I have a question and I think this might be just a clarifying. Um, you said a few times refugee experience population. Um,
I just want to make sure especially when referring to people with refugee experience, is that sort of the preferred or appropriate term to use versus just, you know, immigrant or refugee or whatever.
Um I think um so if you just say immigrants right no one's going to say well you should have used uh refugee instead of immigrant. Um but when we talk about refugees and when we say refugee experience the way we write it in our
office is refugee hyphen experience. And what that allows us to do is broaden the definition of refugees just ever so slightly so that we're talking about refugee communities. you're talking about like for example the monk community um you know the first monk
family to arrive in Minnesota arrived here in the winter of 1975 just a couple of months after the after Saigon fell to communism that is a refugee community but when we say refugee experience we're recognizing that the community has been here for 50 going on 51 years and as a
result there are younger generations in this uh community who are not refugees themselves they were born and raised here um this is all the life they've ever known But we use refugee experience as a phrase to describe this community and to
speak to some of the policy needs that even children who may have been born here 10 or 15 years ago, their needs will absolutely be unique because they are children from a refugee experience
community. I hope that makes sense. Um, >> it does. Thank you. Oh, wonderful. >> All right. >> Um, you had mentioned earlier that, you know, while obviously hosting events is appreciated, it might be better suited
for people in our position to go out and find community members at events that they're kind of already in. Would you find it useful for our organization to highlight events like this? So, you
know, both attend instead of putting on an event, at least highlighting the ones that do exist and then showing up. >> Sure. Um, absolutely. Uh, I would encourage um highlighting and then so
saying, you know, we're aware that in June, so for example, um, uh, May 30th, um, the Asian fair is going to take place and it's going to take place in, um, Plymouth. So you could on your community calendar say, you know, we're
highlighting a community event that's going to happen in May on May 30th. You could do that. I would also recommend um on your individual Facebook pages because that's where most of the world is these days. Um I know that you have your respective followers on Facebook, on social media, after you attend an
event, you could post about it and you could say, you know, this was where I was at. This is what I learned. Um, I'm, you know, you could say I was at, um, you know, uh, Srron, uh, May 16th and 17th, the Thai temple in St. Louis Park
is going to host Sonran, which is the Thai name for the Thai New Year celebration. You could say, you know, I was there. Um, I learned that in the state of Minnesota, um, the Thai ancestry community is about 5,000 strong. Um, Sonang is the water
festival. Um we the Thai ancestry people will you know you oftentimes see them on um I mean on social media images where they're throwing water at each other and you know water represents purity. It's the process of like sending away the new year and welcoming in um I mean sending
away the whole year and welcoming in the new year. And so you know you could follow up by reflecting on that experience that you were um at and what that means to you in your capacity as commissioner. Minnesota is increasingly diverse um across the state, but
especially across this nation. The Asian-American community is estimated to be the fastest growing population. And when we start getting down into the nitty-gritty of data points, um all cities across the state of Minnesota um are engaging in these conversations
around workforce and education and whatnot. Um those conversations need to be driven by and grounded in the data that we have about demographic changes. And so you're going to see those demographic trends play out at these community events. >> Well, like I said, um I'm a resource.
I'm so glad and so thankful that um you took the initiative to reach out to our office. Um, I hope that this won't be the first and the last time that we're meeting and I'm I'm looking forward to meeting all of you in person and I'll I'll do my best to help um make or to help increase the chances that that
happens. Um, starting with informing you of some community events. Um but my hope is that um this is the beginning of a relationship and that you will u not hesitate to reach out to my office with any questions um about motans of Asian-American and Pacific Islander
ancestry or you know what do we know about what's happening in state government and what's happening across the state as it relates to um you know an increasingly diverse Minnesota. And I just want to end on this note of thanking you for the work that you're doing. Thanking you for for your
leadership and thanking you for um all of the uh courageous decisions that you will be making. Um it's not sometimes we make we're in positions to make decisions and um one would think that those decisions are simple because
they're about right versus wrong. Um but uh as someone who went to school um and prepared herself um to come into government. Um I've been around long enough to know that so many issues are contested grounds these days and so the
decisions that will come before you are not always cut and dry and no matter what decisions you make there will be lots of people who will be unhappy with your decision. And so I just uh want to end on the note that I see you, I hear
you, and um I'm I'm happy to be uh of help in whatever ways you feel are appropriate given your um given your service in the city of Chesca. >> We want to thank you uh for giving up
your time. I think this is a great start to great partnership. Um, thank you very much, Director Her. And if there are no other questions, I think we'll let you go and be in contact with you soon. >> Thank you very much.
>> Well, thank you. I will happily wait to hear from all of you. Pressure to reach out, but if you don't, I will. All right. Thank you so much. >> Thank you. >> Have a great rest of the evening. Bye now. >> Bye. So, I forgot to mention this at the
beginning before she started to speak, but um the decision was made to um try to bring speakers on every month that could talk about um hopefully the right word. The following months, did I say that right? um
events I guess or or um to help me at least um >> communities organizations committee organizations um those type of things. So if you have any ideas um for guest speakers in the next couple of months I mean this month or next month is AsianPacific Islander
Month but following month would be um >> Pride Month. So if we have a speaker for that um possibly um and then so forth as we as we move on throughout the year plan ahead um and
we'll plan accordingly I suppose. >> Any questions on that comments or anything? All right. Uh moving on, uh we need to approve the minutes for our last meeting on February 26th, 2026.
Are there any questions or concerns about those minutes? Anything that needs to be changed or added? >> I don't think so. Can I get a motion to approve the minutes? >> I move to approve the minutes from the
February meeting. >> I second that. >> Oh, fantastic. All in favor say I. >> I. >> Opposed. All right. It's passed. Uh, moving on to the treasures report
through April. Uh chair and commissioners, there has not been any changes since what you saw in February. So your remaining balance right now is 5900 and some change. >> Anyone have any questions?
Do I have anyone who would like to make a motion to approve? >> Motion to approve the treasuries report. >> Second. Did that come out right? >> I second. >> Fantastic. All in favor? I I
>> opposed. Fabulous. And it's passed. Approved. Moving on to old business. Would anyone like to talk about our Pride celebration? Is there an update
for this year's? >> Yeah. So, we have had two official meetings now. Um, and we've made a fair amount of progress in terms of deciding what kind of vendors we're going to have
present. Um, we've been exploring some um, additional activities to have present at the celebration and at this point in time, we've secured two food trucks with the help of the parks
and wreck department. Um, and we're exploring a DJ again. I think we were hoping Ki would DJ, but she's not available. So, we're kind not necessarily back to the drawing board, but exploring
>> other options, >> options B and C and maybe D. Um, we the celebration will be at Lions Park on June 27th. It'll be from 300 pm to 6:00 pm.
We're going to do a kind of a repeat of some of the stuff we've done in the past. So, uh, like tie-dye and, uh, like bracelet making and, um, ice cream, although we're exploring doing single
serve ice creams as opposed to scooping >> because it's hot and ice cream melts. >> Yeah. Um, I know we're going to try and get the I'm going to blank on the official term for this. The parks and wreck
trailer >> block >> block party wagon. >> Block party wagon. There we go. That Yep. Um, possibly bounce houses. Couple of those. There is a playground nearby, but we were thinking it might be
fun to supplement. And then the Let's see, what else do I have on here? uh face painters. We found um some face painters that we were looking to bring in, I guess, professional face painters.
They've got a a website at the very least. Um and we've secured the date for them, although we do need to work out some details with payment. And that kind of leads then to the discussion of a budget
in part because the face painters, we were trying to decide, do we front the cost of that or do we have individuals um pay for each of their sort of face painting experiences, that kind of thing. Um we need to buy some additional
t-shirts. If we do rent bounce houses, there'll be a fee associated with that. Um, the ice cream, we need to pay for the additional t tie-dye materials. We're looking at getting some swag.
Uh, kind of like these rainbow footballs that people can play with. Um, am I missing anything else from our last meeting? >> Not that I can think of. I touch on the major stuff. >> Yeah. Um
>> there's we're trying to be conscientious about bringing in Chesa businesses and trying to kind of lift up the local business community in ways whatever ways
we can. So, I like another vendor that we were um exploring, a vendor option, there's a new hair salon downtown and they do um I'm blanking. They're hair extensions, but they're like color colorful hair extensions. So, it would
be, you know, creative way to for community members to express themselves. Um Oh, yes. And another kind of fun new event we were thinking about this year is
a what we're calling a rainbow runway. And so we're going to provide some sort of dress up options maybe. Um, and then have probably kids, but anyone who wants to
participate can um dress up from this dress up bin and kind of stret their stuff down a rainbow walkway, which will likely be a chalk on sidewalk. Um, but yeah, just a fun way to to kind
of increase energy level and and all that. So, uh, with all that said, oh, and a piñata. Forgot about the piñata, which I'm very excited about personally.
Um, but we are proposing a slightly higher budget than last year simply because it seems like we're kind of expanding the events and vendors that we want to have available. Um, we're happy to talk through
the budget in more detail and where we think the money is going to be used and where we could maybe save some of these dollars, but currently the budget we're proposing is $3,000. Um, last year we spent about $800 on
t-shirts. We probably won't need the full 800 this year, but we need to figure out what how many t-shirts we have left over from last year. And that'll directly Oh, what is that? >> I went downstairs this afternoon. You have about 10 t-shirts.
>> Okay. So, we'll probably use the whole budget then for the whole $800. Um, but then like I said before, the face painters. So that budget takes into account the kind of us anticipating making payment
for having face painters on site the whole time. If we opted to have community members who participate pay for their own face painting. Um that would save about $600 I believe.
And then I can't remember where else there was some flexibility. Oh, we talked about like one one or two bounce houses. One for like >> older kids and then one for specifically for like toddlers and smaller kids.
>> So, um talked about that and flexibility and then I was kind of in and out because I was out making calls, but also the >> Yeah, >> single serve versus the scooped ice cream because single serve stuff >> would be a little bit more expensive, right? But it sounds like one of the
food trucks is going to have snow cones and did you and >> like cotton candy and just other kind of more sweet >> sort of snack items. So, I mean, it is possible that we could eliminate ice
cream from this year's offerings simply because decent alternatives would be available. And so, that but anyway, the $3,000 was meant to be a conservative estimate to cover sort of everything we've talked about so far with the anticipation being that we would come in
under budget. Are there any questions, suggestions? >> Are we doing an I can't reach this. Are we doing an art project this year? >> Um, that's a good question. We were We
had a couple of ideas. One was potentially re- attempting the art project from last year. Uh, is it it wasn't adopted quite as vigorously as we had thought it would be. So, we could try that again this year because we have all
the supplies and everything. Um, another idea we had thought was with the rainbow runway. if we were to take pictures of each participant at the end and then print those pictures into like some sort of rainbow poster with a you know then
representing all the different community members that might be an option but that heavily depends on participation um in the event. Those were the two ideas we had so far. Yeah. Yeah. So um probably no additional costs
or very minor additional costs associated with those options. Yeah. >> Um I have written down. So you talked about the the runway. >> Yes. The rainbow runway. And what popped to mind was like red carpet,
>> like a um a runner >> and so they can walk down and then also popped in my head was like a photo booth >> um where once they're dressed up they can go into the photo booth, take their picture and get it printed up
right there instead of us or someone trying to print it up later. Mhm. >> I know there's a cost to it, but those are just some thoughts that I >> Yeah. And we do have the photo booth items from prior Pride events. So, we could very easily set up a photo booth
station at So, it would be more just position making sure everything is positioned appropriately so that it gets used. Um, I'm a big fan of instant photos, but those I know are not inexpensive
>> nor or the cameras >> like an Instax camera or Polaroid. >> Yeah, >> I remember those. >> I do have a camera. So, if that was something I was thinking about, we would just need the film associated with it. But we do
My daughter has several actually. >> The Inst the Instax cameras. We've got one, too. >> Yeah. As do I. Um, but I, you know, I do like that idea. Kind of instant gratification. Yeah. I'll write that down.
>> Um, oh, shoot. I have one more comment, but I don't remember. Oh, um, the police's that the police department's wagon or whatever. >> Yeah, the 50 trailer. I need to connect with them and see if they're available.
That's also on our list as well. At least even if we can get them there for even a little bit of time. >> Um, do we know is there a water source like a hose?
>> Um, I would assume there's a way to attach a hose. I can check on that. But the shelter does have water >> and it's fully plumbed and has a kitchen and that sort of thing. >> Okay. >> So more like a water slide, but we can
discuss later. >> I was given uh one of our staff members today we were talking about pride and so they said there's like a little rainbow arch and you hook up a hose and it just kind of mists down >> as something fun. So, >> oh yeah, >> something else to think about.
>> Sounds so good. >> Perfect. >> That sounds perfect for Pride. >> Are we considering short sponsors again? Was that successful? >> I do you think that that was successful when we did it in 2024? But I think the
we were successful in getting sponsors, I should say. Um I think the drawback was that it it made it difficult to reuse shirts in following years. >> Yeah. >> Um maybe in part because we put the year
on it. So that could be something we explore for next year. Do we want to do sponsors without a year? Um but we have not looked at acquiring sponsors for the t-shirts this year. Not to say we couldn't, but we're running a little low
on time. >> Yeah. Yeah. >> Um, how many shirts are you thinking about getting or how many Let me not ask that question. Let me ask this. What was our budget last year for this event? Or what did we spend last year, please?
When I looked, we spent about $1,300 and >> I believe $850 of that was for shirts, about 300 for ice cream, and then we had some paint supplies,
other art supplies. >> And some of that increase for this year would be the bounce houses and potentially paying for a DJ, which we did not. We didn't do either of those last year. >> So, what's your ask? I don't Who's on the committee?
>> Yeah. 3,000 was the ask. >> Oh, okay. >> I started with that, but then I >> I know. I heard I was like I wanted to talk through why it was Yeah. >> Just ask it again. Um, >> so the request is $3,000. Is there a
motion to approve a $3,000 budget for June's Pride event for 2026? >> Are we allowed? >> I was just I was just thinking the same thing.
>> Go ahead. You all are asking somebody. You two. What are you doing? You >> uh motion to approve $3,000 for the 2026 um Pride Picnic Festival >> celebration. >> Celebration. Thank you. It's been a long
week. >> I'll second that. >> All right, we have a motion. We have a second. All in favor? >> I say I opposed. All right, eyes have it. It's approved.
budget of $3,000 is approved for this year's Pride event. >> We promise it'll be worth it. >> Yay. If we can move on to our strategic plan update for the HRC.
Uh, chair and commissioners, what I attempted to do was take what I heard you all talk about at the work session last month and and summarize it. >> So, what you have here is um kind of
that summary sheet and then um additional page of kind of that committee structure that we looked at. So the recap of what I heard was education continue to focus on getting the human rights commission name and
goals of the commission out to the communities. Um understand a little bit more on the public interest side and what the public would like to see this commission do. And so part of this year would be spent collecting um just kind of data essentially from folks, talking
to people um getting more information to help develop um this strategic plan of what the commission should look at in the upcoming years. And then finally, um there was a lot of discussion about events and how we should look at
approaching events in the future. So um we do really well at partnering with folks. Is there a way if we create an event to continue to partner and maybe that partner takes over an event um and
even if that partner takes over the event, you know, the HRC could still be involved with it either from a financial or volunteer standpoint. Um so that was like one component of the discussion on events. Another component was um just getting people to events and
then getting them to stay and continue to participate. And then um and part of that then would be marketing strategies for each of these events and how do we make sure the information gets out to folks um including personal
invitations for council members and then continuing to grow those partnerships again. So all that um doesn't necessarily fall on the commission to do so like with pride um former commissioner Wellelward um has expressed
interest in being in the pride subcommittee and continuing to do that and if we look at celebrate India we've had a bunch of community members participate in those subcommittee that subcommittee and then finally the last thing I heard was networks continuing to network with
other organizations kind of as you did this evening and cross sponsor programs. So really kind of what um is looking for is to provide any feedback or additional comments that I missed in my note takingaking or that you've had time to
think about and would like to add to it. Um the next steps then will be to if this is the direction you would like to go, collect some of that information over the summer and then as we move into the fall, put your strategic plan
together and then that will be ready to go in time for 2027. Um finally on the last page then is the the list of committees. Again, I will note the Cinco de Mayo um committee after talking um with the key person
who's done it the past few years um just feels it's not the right time to do it right now um given circumstances. So that's been cancelled for this year. But you'll see at the end I've added school and student engagement. I didn't necessarily note that in my
notes, but I added it to the committee list because there was folks interested in that committee. That survey in public interests, um there were three folks who were interested in um helping with that. And then social media, so working with the city communications staff on how to
continue to enhance the commission's um presence on social media. So that I'll turn it to you, chair. >> Any questions or comments? anything that needs to be added, subtracted, take a minute or two to read it.
>> Is is the idea here that uh once we kind of review and approve this that we'll come up with specific steps or like an action plan on how to execute? >> Yes, we'll write out a welldetailed plan
for 2027. That is the goal. >> Okay, perfect. and then we'll stay on track those roles, goals, and responsibilities. >> We'll see how it works. Any other questions, comments? >> I think it's a great start.
I think we're moving in the right direction. One of the things I was thinking about today is I think we should have more I'm just going to throw this out. Maybe we have one meeting that's official and then we have a work session the next month and then the next the following month we have another whatever you want
to call this official meeting and then work session. That way we can continue to keep process and we don't have to use our personal time. That came out right. Um for all the side work, right? So if we have a work session, maybe we come in at whatever time it's supposed to be 6:30,
6 o'clock, whatever it is, break up into our subgroups, work on what we need to work on, have a quick conversation, see where we are, and then move on. And then the next month we can kind of talk about progress and keep it going. What are
those? Is that No, shut up. Go ahead. >> I think my only hesitation there is that we rely pretty heavily on staff to support us. And if we're breaking into groups where we have staff members who are part supposed to be part of multiple groups, how do they
split themselves into multiple pieces? Or was the thought that it would be more highlevel discussions or are we I guess I was confused. Are we talking about breaking into these subcommittees and doing planning once a month or every other month?
>> You know, it it could be. I mean, I would like to use I guess I'll put it this way. I would like to use our time more efficiently. That come out right? And more effectively. That make sense? Um, and I think a lot of times, you know, a
lot of us have jobs during the day, so if we're supposed to meet by Zoom, it doesn't always work out for everyone. My my job is I can't. So, if I'm working that day, it's not going to happen. Well, that might work. Um that's that's me. But I think when we get to you know
after everyone's off um and you have time a quick dis you you know quick discussion in person that might take 15 minutes or if there's a project needs to be done or if there's nothing then we just move on. I guess that's my thought process. I don't you know we can keep
going this route as well. I I think we would we would get more done if we cut this meeting off. So all this is is basically a recap a recap of what whatever we did last month or whatever. Does that make sense? Um,
>> okay. >> I like the idea. I think we like taking the time during the week and during the days for subcommittees to meet is helpful, but also like sometimes it's say, "Hey, like who do you know even though you're not a part
of the subcommittee? Like who do you know that could help out?" And just having that work time intermittently could help enhance some of the goals that we talked about in the strategic plan because we're all here together. Um, and we could lean on each other to
pick each other's brains, if that makes sense. So, I guess I was just saying I like the idea. >> Any other? >> Also, it's really cold in here. >> Any other comments?
or suggestions or ideas. But to did you say >> I'll get my mic off. >> Martin, I was just going to like one option if you know because some of what we talk about is you know like the pride stuff that was planned this past month.
Like we could have also just a more expedited meeting and then have the second half of it to like talk about what you know what do you all need to do? What support do you need? what how can we help like at the end kind of based on what we talked about in the in
the hour or something before that too if we don't want to alternate when it's a work session is that a public meeting that people can just come like look at us work okay it's just not projected on >> yeah that's correct we wouldn't we wouldn't um
>> put it out on Zoom or on YouTube afterwards it but it is a public meeting and therefore you all can be involved And and if you're looking at doing committees, that idea of like asking and bouncing ideas off of other folks who may not be a part of your subcommittee
because we can't go over that limit of three. This would be your opportunity to do that as well. And that sort of thing, >> but do we still have those like speakers like we did today come in and do something on the work sessions?
>> No. Did you see my eye? >> That was a great question. Um, shoot. I had a thought and it slipped out of my mind. I don't know. Any other comments or questions? I think next meeting I would like to try
the little split option that she suggested um just because they have pride coming up and then give you time to really knock it out since that's one of our core events. >> So just understand you'll have a formal
meeting, a real quick formal meeting and then we'll be done quickly and then break into a work session afterwards. Got it. Um, would we look at having a speaker next month since kind of in line with the whole we would want someone speaking
to the following month's um celebration or focus? >> Since this is a half meeting, I think we should I think we we could spend 15 minutes or give them 20 minutes or whatever 15 minutes and then that can be
on YouTube. we can be done. I don't really know what there is to talk about other than what's happening in the work session. So, we can do that fast. Does anyone have any ideas on a speaker >> or thoughts yet? >> I'm sure we could >> find someone. >> Find someone. Yeah. >> Okay.
>> Yeah. >> Speaker it is next month 15 minutes. >> All right. If anybody has ideas on a speaker or connection, please let me know. >> I'll talk to you after you guys have an idea. I'm sorry. I'm reading an email that
Sarah sent. She wasn't able to be here and I asked her if she had anything to say or put out there. I thought she had an idea for a speaker. Oh, sorry. She does not have one for that month.
>> Any other comments or questions on this? >> I don't have any on this, but I am wondering about River City days. Have we decided how to proceed? Are we sharing a booth?
Is that official? >> I think we decided last month to share a booth. >> Okay. Yeah, it'll save on cost and >> does that work for everyone? Oh, well,
I did get I did get an email right before we started from um River City Days and I'll I guess I can read it real fast. Um, hi there. This is from Marissa Nordling. Um, she
says, "Hi there. I was given the contact information." Da da da da. This year, we're hoping to create a meaningful open opening ceremony that celebrates the many cultures that make up our community, and I wanted to reach out to see if the Chaza Human Rights Commission would be interested in helping organize
or collaborate on something like this. Our vision is to host a small cultural parade beginning in the Lions Parking lot and ending at the large white tent uh where the opening ceremony would take place. The tent is reserved from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m. and we'd love to fill that
time with performances, cultural showcases, and representation from a variety of local groups. We do have a budget set aside and would be happy to support bringing in performers or coordinating participation from different organizations. Does that sound like anything that
interests us? Could we shift from the booth to >> I'm assuming it would be Friday night. that opening Friday night and then we're just done or pass on it this year. Maybe it'd be
worth just asking what she thinks we could do to help with that. Like is she just wanting us to recruit or give ideas or what, you know, what she had in mind? I think it sounds cool.
>> Yeah. or if she's looking for volunteers, I think would be another thing we could offer. Okay. >> Any other questions to ask her? I'll reach out to her. Any other questions? >> Going once, going twice, sold.
Any other questions on the strategic plan or our calendar of events? Going once, going twice. Any new business? Going going once. Going. Yeah, I know. I said
7:00. Going once, going twice. Nothing. Uh, okay. Our next meeting will be May 28th, 2026. If there's no other business, no other
questions, nothing else, do I have a motion to adjurnn? I move that we adjourn. Okay. >> Is there is there a second out there? >> Seconded. >> All approved. Say I.
>> I. >> I. >> Against. All right. We pass. Bye. >> Thank you for joining us. We appreciate you. We'll see you next time.