Human Rights Commission Meeting Date: February 28, 2024
To: Human Rights Commission
From: Claudia Garcia, Staff Liaison
Title
Staff Report.
Body
Action Requested:
None.
Summary Report:
The following are some updates on activities to share with the Human Rights Commission
• Updates:
o Requests from public for items to be added to the agenda
§ 2/22 Email from Administration:
Mayor and Members of Council and Members of the Human Rights Commission,
A number of you have received emails in recent days regarding a request for a ceasefire resolution to be placed on an upcoming City Council and/or HRC meeting agenda. Staff has been responding to these requests as we’ve received them or are being informed of them. We are letting individuals know that the City has a practice of not considering items that do not directly impact the City and/or are outside the governance jurisdiction of the City Council. If you have received any of these requests, please forward them on to me (and Claudia if it’s an HRC request) and we will respond to the individuals if we have not yet done so. Please also be aware that at least one of the individuals who requested this resolution has inquired about speaking during the Open Public Comments portion of the City Council and/or HRC meetings.
o The Communications department is continuously working towards updating all of our websites and other communications tools.
o The Northfield News graciously offered a space to share what is happening in our city. City Administrator will use this space to discuss a timely and relevant topic the third Wednesday of each month.
o State of the City is coming up-Tuesday, March 19th, 2024 at 6pm at the Weitz Center for Creativity.
§ Mandatory for all Boards and Commission members.
o Community Outreach
§ Community Events Calendar:
• Events Calendar - Northfield, Minnesota (northfieldmn.gov) <https://events.northfieldmn.gov/>
§ Collaborating with different community partners and city departments:
• Northfield Public Library
o The Library is now selling:
§ Hiawathaland Bus tokens
§ Processing US passports by appointment:
• Home - Passport Services - MyNPL at Northfield Public Library <https://mynpl.org/passports>
• Service hours:
o Mon: 9am-noon; 1-4pm
o Tues: 9am-noon; 1-4pm
o Wed: 9am-noon; 1-4pm
o Thurs: 1-4pm; 5-7pm
o 1st & 3rd Sat: 10am-2pm
o Library Oasis Ribbon Cutting - Northfield, Minnesota (northfieldmn.gov) <https://events.northfieldmn.gov/event/library_oasis_ribbon_cutting>
• Engineering:
o Provide feedback on Construction & Development Projects
§ Construction & Development Projects | Northfield, MN - Official Website (northfieldmn.gov) <https://www.northfieldmn.gov/291/Construction-Development-Projects>
o Many projects started and will be starting, sign up for “Notify Me” to stay up to date on live projects. <https://www.northfieldmn.gov/291/Construction-Development-Projects>
• HR & Communications
o Employment Opportunities:
§ ••Jobs Northfield, MN CivicEngage (northfieldmn.gov) <https://www.northfieldmn.gov/jobs.aspx>
o Northfield Public Broadcasting:
§ Working at the Legislature to make Public Television more accessible to everyone.
§ The MACTA BILL is Senate File 3930. I highly recommend that you use the link to its official home on the Minnesota Legislature web site <https://www.revisor.mn.gov/bills/bill.php?b=senate&f=SF3930&ssn=0&y=2024> to track its progress because when it’s amended, anyone who clicks will get the latest updates. And when a companion is introduced in the House, it will be available as a link to this bill. You can also track authors, next steps in the committee process, etc. You can also set up a “my bills” account to receive alerts, and you can set up email alerts from any committee to receive agendas for their meetings. As you can see on this link, the Author is Senator Mitchell and co-sponsors so far include Sen. Rest, Senator Klein, and Senator Xiong. We are told that Rep. Freiberg will be authoring the House companion very soon. We also expect the bill supporting franchising of broadband companies that use public rights-of-way to be coming out very soon, and it will be authored by the same two legislators, Senator Mitchell and Representative Freiberg.
§ <https://macta.wildapricot.org/resources/Documents/Legislative%20Resources/macta_one-pager_2024.pdf>
• DMV
o Hours:
§ Monday, Wednesday & Thursday 7:30am- 4:15pm
§ Tuesday 7:30am-5:45pm
§ Friday 7:30am-11:45am
• Community Development:
o The City collaborated with a Twin Cities-based nonprofit Metropolitan Consortium of Community Developers (MCCD) provides no-cost, one-on-one business support for entrepreneurs and small business owners in Northfield through its Open to Business Program.
••Calendar Northfield, MN CivicEngage (northfieldmn.gov) <https://www.northfieldmn.gov/calendar.aspx?eid=7590>
• The MCCD new representative Vicky Gonzalez will start with regular office hours every 4th Thursday noon-3pm by appointment.
• Vicky is an English/Spanish bilingual rep.
o Comprehensive Plan- Northfield 2045
§ Meetings are coming up: Comprehensive Plan | Northfield, MN - Official Website (northfieldmn.gov) <https://www.northfieldmn.gov/286/Comprehensive-Plan>
o Housing
§ Housing possibilities and solutions community meeting: Housing possibilities and solutions community meeting - Northfield, Minnesota (northfieldmn.gov) <https://events.northfieldmn.gov/event/housing_possibilities_and_solutions_open_house>
§ Other Educational resources:
• Homelessness in the US - Northfield, Minnesota (northfieldmn.gov) <https://events.northfieldmn.gov/event/homelessness_in_the_us>
o The City of Northfield continues with efforts to be as accessible/equitable:
§ Land Acknowledgement Statement
• Land Acknowledgement Statement | Northfield, MN - Official Website (northfieldmn.gov) <https://www.northfieldmn.gov/1403/Land-Acknowledgement-Statement>
§ Interpreter Etiquette Meeting Participants | Northfield, MN - Official Website (northfieldmn.gov) <https://www.northfieldmn.gov/1506/Meeting-Participants>
§ Cultural & Language Training
• <https://www.northfieldmn.gov/1297/LanguageLine>
§ Providing communications in English and Spanish
• Social media platforms
o (1) City of Northfield, Minnesota | Northfield MN | Facebook <https://www.facebook.com/cityofnorthfield>
o •City of Northfield (@cityofnorthfield) Instagram photos and videos <https://www.instagram.com/cityofnorthfield/?hl=en>
o (3) City of Northfield account | LinkedIn <https://www.linkedin.com/in/city-of-northfield-account-7514b2278/>
§ Zoom webinar w/ interpreter feature
§ Accessibility links on City website
§ Staying connected with live projects on “Notify Me” to stay up to date on live projects. <https://www.northfieldmn.gov/291/Construction-Development-Projects>
§ Northfield Public Broadcasting
• Recording and Live Streaming Board and Commission Meetings
• Charter Spectrum channels 180 & 187 and on the City website.
• Encouraging community organizations/individuals to submit video content.
• Researching NPB and YouTube videos more accessible in multiple languages.
o City of Northfield - YouTube <https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtnTBbacEOB4MxgNKzctOag>
Alternative Options:
NA
Financial Impacts:
NA
Tentative Timelines:
NA