2016.01.05 Work Session Packet (1st)4141 Douglas Drive North • Crystal, Minnesota 55422-1696
CITY of Tel: (763) 531-1000 • Fax: (763) 531-1188 • www.crystalmn.gov
CRYSTAL
Posted: December 18, 2015
CRYSTAL CITY COUNCIL
FIRST WORK SESSION AGENDA
Tuesday, January 5, 2016
6:30 p.m.
Conference Room A
Pursuant to due call and notice given in the manner prescribed by Section 3.01 of the City
Charter, the first work session of the Crystal City Council was held at p.m. on Tuesday,
January 5, 2016 in Conference Room A located at 4141 Douglas Drive, Crystal, Minnesota.
I. Attendance
Council members Staff
Adams Norris
Dahl Therres
Deshler Revering
Kolb
Libby
Parsons
Peak
Gilchrist
Serres
II. Agenda
The purpose of the work session is to discuss the following agenda item:
1. Projects and assignments with Human Rights Commission
III. Adjournment
The work session adjourned at p.m.
Auxiliary aids are available upon request to individuals with disabilities by calling the City Clerk at (763)
531-1145 at least 96 hours in advance. TTY users may call Minnesota Relay at 711 or 1-800-627-3529.
Memorandum
CITY of
CRYSTAL
DATE: December 17, 2015
TO: Mayor and City Council
FROM: Anne Norris, City Manager
SUBJECT: Ideas and Suggestions for Project and Assignments for Advisory
Commissions — Human Rights Commission
At its November 12 work session, the Council discussed coming up with ideas for
projects and assignments for the advisory commissions to be used in providing
guidance to the commissions. Listed below is the list of suggestions for the Human
Rights Commission.
Human Rights Commission
Reduce the number of meetings throughout the year (Annually, bi-yearly or
quarterly meetings). Could become similar to Employee Review Board in that
they meet once a year for an annual meeting and then only meet when
required. The council could then call upon them to meet if and when a
Human Rights issue presents itself or if they would like the commission to
focus on a particular issue.
Think local. This is the Crystal Human Rights Commission. Why are you
here? What do you want to do in our community?
Nothing that divides our community into groups- focus on things that unite us
and make Crystal better.
Identify local groups or individuals working to do good, and highlight them.
Considering all the stuff with Paris and all, perhaps the HRC could take on
outreach to mitigate the building tensions towards persons of Middle Eastern
dissent. Also, conflict de-escalation training would be a good one to look into
for them. Most people could benefit. Obviously the aforementioned event
would not have been helped by this training but there are many other
circumstances that are far more likely where it could help people.
Focus on creating community within Crystal and bringing together the diverse
cultures, meeting needs we find here.
A Human Trafficking/Safety Event
Domestic Abuse support - how could they help? The Police get more calls
about domestic disputes than anything else
Connect with local non -profits and give them more visibility in Crystal.
Focus more on service projects like partnering up with various local charities
for coat/food/toy drives.
Talk about how residents can help the homeless (care packages, etc)
Addressing our rising domestic violence issues (partner with the police?)
Do something with crime prevention board
love their Constitution Week idea, that was great, and I would like them to
develop that further for next time.
At its December 10 work session, the City Council agreed the Human Rights
Commission should pick one event and do it well — perhaps make Constitution Week an
annual event?
The City Council agreed it would be beneficial to meet with the Human Rights
commission to discuss the role of the commission. Members of the Human Rights
Commission have been invited to attend the January 5 City Council work session.