minutes

DOVER HUMAN RELATIONS COMMISSION MINUTES OF APRIL 27, 2011 CITY HALL COUNCIL CHAMBERS Present: Chair Roy Sudler, Jr., Ellen Wasfi, Dawn Allen-Pyne, Lee MacCallum, George Steele, Maisha Britt, and Phyllis Edamatsu arrived late. 1. Meeting Called to Order/Roll Call at 7:00 P.M. 2. Moment of Silence 3. Agenda Additions/Deletions Ellen Wasfi made a motion to approve the agenda, and Maisha Britt seconded. The agenda was approved. 4. Adoption of Minutes – November 17, 2010 and February 23, 2011 Lee MacCallum made a motion to adopt the minutes and Ellen Wasfi seconded. FT The motion carried and the minutes were adopted without changes or corrections. 5. Comments from the Community No one was present to comment at this time. 6. Chair’s Report Mr. Sudler had no report at this time. 7. Committee Reports A. Intake Screening/Hearing(s) Maisha Britt had no intakes and no report. B. School Programs Ellen Wasfi was unable to schedule a meeting with RA her contact at the school, and had no report. C. Community Programs Dawn Allen-Pyne had made contact with the manager of the Kent County Community Action building to see if a community meeting could be held there. She is waiting to check schedules. D. Assessment Phyllis Edamatsu is working on compiling her assessments from the surveys from the special forums. 8. Unfinished Business Mental Health Forum Update, from May 26, 2010. Ellen Wasfi went over a draft of the letter that the Commission was preparing for the City Council. She said she would e-mail her revised wording to the commissioners. She recommends that DHRC should ask the City Council to D do some investigating into the concerns presented by those attending the Forum. Maisha Britt made a motion to postpone the discussion on the Mental Health Forum until next meeting. It would be necessary for the new Commissioners to have some time to study the Minutes from the Forum, before they could discuss it. Dawn Allen-Pyne seconded the motion, and all voted in favor. Chair Sudler asked all the Commissioners to be prepared at the next meeting. 9. Community Comments At this time DHRC had 2 visitors from DSU. Miss Jocelyn Sudds is a junior at the University, and Miss Shaina Hollingsworth also a junior. They were attending the DHRC meeting to see what the Commission does so they could write a report for one of their classes. Dawn

-2- Allen-Pyne gave them some information about DHRC and Ellen Wasfi referred them to the City’s Web Site for more information. 10. New Business A. Annual Report Is due by May 13, 2011. Chair Sudler needs any information from fellow commissioners as soon as possible. B. Commissioner Steele’s e-mail was read and discussed. The DHRC will present recommendations to the City Council, based on input from the community outreach meetings. C. Review of By-Laws, Articles I-III Article I section 5 removal of officers. Lee MacCallum made a motion that a letter be drafted by Chair Sudler FT requesting clarification from City Council regarding the re-appointment of Commissioners. A 60-day time limit should be set following the February deadline for the City Council to re-appoint Commissioners. Otherwise the Commissioners shall be considered re-installed. Maisha Britt seconded the motion all voted in favor and the motion passed. Chair Sudler will draft the letter and e-mail it to the Commissioners for their review. The section of Article I about term limits was up next for discussion. DHRC may have to add 2 more sections. Lee MacCallum made a motion to add to section 4 of Article I “All officers of the Commission will be elected to office by secret ballot, by a RA majority vote, for a term of one year.” Dawn Allen-Pyne seconded this motion and all were in favor, so the motion carried. Ellen Wasfi made a motion to wait on further discussion of Article I section 5 until the city attorney comes to the meeting next month. Maisha Britt seconded and the motion carried. 11. Agenda Suggestions for Future Meetings Ellen Wasfi suggested that DHRC discuss Native American issues. 12. Announcements Phyllis Edamatsu went to Dover Cultural Exchange’s “Power of One” celebration and fundraiser at the Dover Art League. They raise funds for building libraries and schools in poor areas around the world. D She also talked about the Peace Train, which performs music to communicate peace rather than violence. Peace Train will be at the African American Festival in June. The League of Women Voters had a meet the candidates night before the City Council elections in April, and they will host another meet the candidates for school board night on May 4th at the William Henry School Library from 6:30 to 8 P.M. On April 30 there will be a March of Dimes walk at Silver Lake. May is Asian American Month. 13. Adjournment of Meeting was at 9:15 P.M.