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Human Relations Commission

Minutes of Regular Meeting
December 5, 2002
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The Human Relations Commission of the City of Los Angeles met for its monthly meeting on Thursday, December 5, 2002, at 10:00 a.m., 200 N. Spring St., City Hall Room 1070, Los Angeles, CA 90012.

1. Approval of Minutes from October 3, 2002 and November 7, 2002 monthly Commission Meetings

(Minutes were approved after the ratification of November’s Election of Officers.)

M/S/C-Wexler-Bartenetti-Unanimous That the Minutes of the Commission Meetings are approved with any noted corrections to be made.

2. Commission Roll Call

Commissioners and Advisors introduced themselves after the President’s Report. President Bradley indicated that, at public meetings, guests generally do not introduce themselves.

3. President’s Report (Lorraine Bradley)

President Bradley announced that the Commission must revisit the election of Officers because Commissioner Wexler voted at the November 7, 2002 meeting prior to his confirmation by City Council. Rabbi Freehling further clarified that this occurred in good faith on advice from the Mayor’s Office.

In response to Commissioner Cheng’s request for clarification of the legalities for voting again for Commission Officers, Commissioner Bradley explained that the motion offered by Commissioner Wexler is to ratify the elections of the previous meeting. If the motion does not pass, the Board will consider new nominations.

Wexler/Bartenetti-4-1-1 That the Officers elected at the November 7, 2002 meeting be reelected today to serve the same terms they would have served if they had been legally elected at the November 7, 2002 Commission meeting.

At the November 7, 2002 Commission meeting, the Board also voted to adopt a Schedule of Subsequent Monthly Meetings of the Commissioners and Staff for 2002-2003. The Commission must also revisit this item.

Wexler/Bartenetti/Unanimous That the Commission ratifies the Schedule of Subsequent Monthly Meetings of the Commissioners and Staff for 2002-2003 as approved at the November 7, 2002 Commission meeting.

President Bradley inquired about staff participation with the Mayor’sOffice, LAPD and other city agencies in addressing the recent increase in crime in Los Angeles. She also inquired about staff’s knowledge about hate crimes and current hot spots in the community. Rabbi Allen Freehling indicated that these two subjects would be addressed in his Report.

4. Executive Executive Director’s Report (Rabbi Allen Freehling)

Rabbi Freehling extended greetings in behalf of the staff during this festive season of the year. He referred to documents contained in the Commissioner’s Packets and highlighted the following items:

The staff has begun to explore the possibility of holding a two-day public hearing in February or March with the following mission: To determine the negative effects of international tensions and national stresses on individuals and group dynamics and then to determine those remedies that would help to relieve this toll on the human psyche and the damage inflicted on inter-group relationships. Commissioners are invited to help plan and/or to execute this event.

Staff has noted the need to establish within our department a section that would concentrate on the needs of immigrants, refugees and other newcomers to Los Angeles. This week, the Economic Development and Employment Committee of City Council considered a motion that would authorize an Office of Immigrant Affairs to be established within the Mayor’s Office. During the next 45 days several city departments will discuss this concept and a final recommendation will be delivered to the Committee and later be considered by Council. Because of the Commission’s great concern in this matter, we are now conferring with the Mayor’s staff to determine the role that HRC will play when all the pieces are put in place.

Commissioner Steinberg recalled that, in the past, the Commission considered establishing a committee of well-to-do newcomers who might be able to provide financial or other help to newcomers in-need. He indicated that Past-Commission President Les Frank, who is also an immigration attorney, might be able to help in this regard. Rabbi Freehling suggested that the Commission allow him to broach that subject with the Mayor’s Office and others who are shaping the specific details of the proposed Office of Immigrant Affairs.

In response to Rabbi Muskin’s inquiry about our work with gangs and gang intervention, Rabbi Freehling indicated that he has been invited by Chief of Staff McOsker to submit a paper on the subject and that a task force has also been established to develop additional strategies and tactics. Rabbi Freehling has also passed on to LAPD Chief Bratton a paper from Tom Hayden on the subject of LA Gangs based on Mr. Hayden’s new book and his course instruction at Occidental College. There is also a group of LAPD officials and clergy who are developing strategies to submit to Chief Bratton dealing with ways to minimize the influence of gangs and violence. Their continued work is on hold pending the Chief’s reorganization of LAPD administrative and community relations operations.

Rabbi Freehling has also initiated discussions with community leaders, such as Father Gregory Boyle as well as former gangbangers who are now working to draw people away from gangs. He indicated that his daily interaction with LAPD keeps him current on this major social issue and he said that, if a need arises for Commissioner’s assistance, he will not hesitate to call upon them.

Commissioner Steinberg recalled that on Dec 14, 1972, the Commission sponsored a conference at the Convention Center in which members of gangs and social workers came together to talk together and to suggest recommendations about ways to deal with the kinds of violence that was taking place. A benefit of that conference was the establishment of probation officers in schools to deal with large numbers of students on probation.

Rabbi Freehling reported that our outreach effort to additional city departments continues while we concentrate on the special needs of those who have already sought our assistance. Because of recent tragic events, he has been communicating with LAPD about ways in which we can be of help regarding expanding our cultural diversity training, reducing gang violence and maintaining a high level of community relations. He indicated that later in this meeting Field Team Member Henrietta Williams would report on our interaction with the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment (DONE) and the certification of Neighborhood Councils. Our overall purpose in working with Neighborhood Councils is to help diminish disputes that occur and to improve their leadership skills so that they can become better equipped to deal with the pluralistic nature of their organizations.

The recent report on Hate Crimes in Los Angeles County and national statistics provide ample evidence that the Human Relations Network we have founded has much to do. Commissioners are invited to attend the monthly on Friday, December 20 at noon at the ACLU Library. The guest speaker will be Ellis Stanley, the General Manager of the city’s Emergency Preparedness Department.

Regarding Commissioner Cheng’s previous request for an update regarding an incident in Hollywood in mid October, Rabbi Freehling stated that staff has requested information from the City and District Attorneys’ offices. Any information received will be shared with the Commissioners. He indicated that our collaborative work with the County’s Human Relations Commission, frequent interaction with LAPD including participating on the Police Commission’s Hate Crimes Task Force and our monitoring of regional newspapers ensures that we are current on information concerning hate crime incidents. Rabbi Freehling further stated that the subject of hate crimes is always on the front burner of the Council of Governmental Representatives, which convenes on a monthly basis immediately after the Commission meeting adjourns. He indicated that the Council consists of members from the County HRC, Sheriff Department, LAPD, Department of Justice, State Attorney General, Civil Rights Division of Health and Human Services and others. The purpose of this group is to discuss and plan for steps that need to be taken in anticipation of natural disasters and provocations by humans under all kinds of circumstances. This planning includes working out a strategy so that field team members from each of the non-police force organizations have a role to play while avoiding duplication of efforts. He emphasized that we are there to monitor and if we see something to report it to those who can mitigate. We do so because we are not a law enforcement agency.

The group’s current focus is planning for eventualities in Inglewood depending on the court’s decision to be handed down some time in January and the public’s reaction to what is announced at that time. Rabbi Freehling is also talking to Mayor Hahn’s staff about his role if violence were to spill over in Los Angeles. He invited Commissioner Cheng to sit in on that Council and/or the Human Relations Network as the Commissioner representative.

5. Approval of the Human Relations Commission revised Conflict of Interest Code (Ruby Turner)

Deputy Director of Administrative Services Ruby Turner reported that the Ethics Commission had not yet held its public meeting to approve the Commission’s Revised Conflict of Interest Code. Item tabled to the next meeting.

6. Report from Field Team (Henrietta Williams)

Ms. Williams discussed the Field Team’s Work with DONE and the challenges and rewards of working with Neighborhood Councils, their certifications and resulting officers’ elections. She is specifically working in Council Districts Nine and Ten. For the elections, Field Team staff monitors and conducts the elections, coordinates volunteer work, certifies the elections and oversees challenges and recounts.

The elections receive varying levels of interest from community members. Ms Williams reviewed the steps the Field Team has established to ensure that the integrity of our participation with the Neighborhood Council election process is valid. After the votes are counted, the ballots are brought back to the Commission office for counting, certification and filing. The results are faxed to DONE and the winners.

There has been one challenge in the Pico Election. Commission staff recounted the ballots, re-certified the election, and the votes stood.

The Field Team staff also makes recommendations to DONE regarding the improvements of the election process. One recent recommendation was to establish and post in languages representative of the community uniform election procedures at the election site. Another suggestion was to caution Council Offices against their being excessively involved in the election process.

In response to several Commissioner’s inquiries, Ms. Williams explained that DONE is responsible for the community outreach efforts. These efforts include emails, newsletters, advertisements on local cable stations and notifications to faith-based and other community organizations. She further explained that the requirements for voting in these elections are different from the municipal, state and federal elections, because eligible voters need to only prove that they live and/or work in the Neighborhood Council area.

Rabbi Freehling commented on the amount of time that the Field Team staff members spend on monitoring these elections and facilitating a plethora of disputes. He offered to invite Greg Nelson, the General Manager of DONE, to a future meeting to respond to Commissioners’ questions.

Field Team Member Gary De La Rosa joined Ms Williams at the table. He said that Neighborhood Councils emerged out of City Charter reform and was based on programs in Portland and Minneapolis. The overall concept is to provide stakeholders with a direct link to City Hall for quality of life issues, such as tree trimming and garbage collection. “Stakeholders” are defined as those who live, work or who worship in a Neighborhood Council area; thus, a person could be eligible to vote in three different Neighborhood Councils.

Mr. De La Rosa also summarized his experience with the Hollywood Neighborhood Councils and the difficulties encountered there when there are interested stakeholders with competing interests; e.g., the hills v. the flats, businesses v. homeowners, homeowners v. renters, etc. Throughout this process and many others, HRC staff members have maintained their impartiality and are often sought after for advice by all parties.

7. Commissioner volunteers for Sub-Committees; i.e., Council of Governmental Representatives, Community Councils Human Relations Advocates, Human Relations Network, Faith Communities Human Relations Champions, New Angelenos Council, Board of Advisors and Media Advisory Board

Commissioners reviewed the Proposed Human Relations Subcommittees list submitted by staff, as well as the historical perspective of Human Relations Commission Subcommittees provided by Commissioner Steinberg. Rabbi Freehling asked that the proposed New Angelenos Council be left out of consideration until a decision has been made on the status of the suggested Office of Immigrant Affairs.

Commissioner Cheng voiced his opinion that the Commission should not duplicate efforts already existing in the community. He used the Media Advisory Board of the County HRC as an example of a similar organization already in existence. In response to these concerns, Rabbi Freehling indicated that, if the proposed Media Advisory Group is a duplication of efforts already underway by the County, he would suggest that the City participate in that group similarly to the way in which Executive Director Robin Toma is participating on the City HRC’s Council of Governmental Representatives.

In consideration of the questions asked by the Commissioners, the Commission Officers and staff were asked to revise the Proposed Human Relations Sub- Committees to include a revised list that indicates the purpose, chair and meeting times. Commissioner Bartenetti will also provide assistance with this task.

8. Consideration of proposal offered by Charles Moorhead

(See page 8 of Nov 7, 2002 minutes)

This item was not discussed and carried over to the next meeting’s agenda.

9. Public Comment

10. Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned at 12:15 p.m.