Meeting Date: April 2, 2024
To: Mayor & City Council
From: Melissa Hanson, Housing Coordinator
Title
Consider Resolution Proclaiming the month of April 2024 Fair Housing Month.
Body
Action Requested:
Staff Recommends the City Council consider a Resolution Proclaiming the Month of April 2024 as Fair Housing Month in Northfield.
Summary Report:
The City of Northfield adopted a Fair Housing Statement in 2023. (attached) The Fair Housing Statement is meant to be a living document. An annual proclamation acknowledges the importance of Fair Housing and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion to our community. An annual proclamation also acknowledges that there are still barriers to equal housing and our community actively works to break those barriers down. An annual proclamation also fulfills the City's obligation to Affirmatively Further Fair Housing as a recipient of Federal Funds through the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG).
The Housing and Redevelopment Authority and the Human Rights Commission have both moved support for the attached Resolution Proclaiming the Month of April 2024 as Fair Housing Month in Northfield. (attached)
On April 11, 1968, President Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1968, which was meant as a follow-up to the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The 1968 Act expanded on previous acts and prohibited discrimination concerning the sale, rental, and financing of housing based on race, religion, national origin, sex, (and as amended) handicap and family status. Title VIII of the Act is also known as the Fair Housing Act (of 1968).
The federal Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination in housing because of:
* Race
* Color
* National Origin
* Religion
* Sex (including gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, and sexual harassment)
* Familial Status (marital status)
* Disability
The Minnesota Human Rights Act, or MHRA, is the state's civil rights statute. Analogous to the federal Fair Housing Act, it has protections against dis...
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