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HAAB Minutes 06/25/1993 Minutes Hispanic Affairs Advisory Board Meeting June 25, 1993 COLLrER COUNTY BOARD OF COUNTY COMMrSSrONERS HrSPANrC AFFArRS ADVrSORY BOARD Minutes of Meetinq June 25, 1993 BOARD OF COUNTY COMMrSSrONERS BOARD ROOM 3rd Floor, Bldq. F COLLrER COUNTY GOVERNMENT CENTER NAPLES, FLORrDA MEMBERS PRESENT VISITORS Melinda Riddle Ana Rodriquez John Ortega Nelson Munoz Marjorie Nelson Don Price Victor Valdez Frank Rodriquez Carey Garland Henry Tribble STAFF PRESENT Ramiro Manalich Staff Liaison to Hispanic Affairs the Advisory Board The meeting of the Hispanic Affairs Advisory Board was called to order at 6:50 p.m. The Board approved unanimously the minutes of March 25 and May 27, 1993. There was one correction (specifying that the March 25 meeting was held at the East Naples Community Park, Community Center) to the March 25 minutes. CHArRMAN'S REPORT The Chairman, Melinda Riddle, requested that the members of the Board work diligently to finish their sections of the Comprehensive Report for the Board of County Commissioners. The Chairman also stressed the need to have a thorough, well researched and well organized report. The Chairman has been in contact with Black Affairs Advisory Board member Henry Tribble regarding the content and timing of the presentation of the Department of Equal Opportunity proposal. The Chairman also requested Staff Liaison Ramiro Manalich to furnish to the Board notice of applicants for any future Hispanic Affairs Advisory Board membership vacancies. -1- Hispanic Affairs Advisory Board Minutes July 7, 1993 Page 2 STAFF REPORT staff Liaison Ramiro Manalich mentioned that Mr. Tribble would be appearing during the course of the meeting to discuss the Department of Equal Opportunity proposal with the Hispanic Board members. Mr. Manalich also made the members aware of the existence of a campaign financing brochure which is available in the Spanish language and was furnished to Mr. Manalich by Supervisor of Elections, Mary Morgan. ROBERTS' RULES OF ORDER Member Donald Price made a motion, seconded by Ana Rodriquez, for the use of Roberts' Rules of Order to govern the Hispanic Affairs Advisory Board meetings. A brief historical comment was made by Staff Liaison Manalich mentioning that the original membership of the Hispanic Affairs Advisory Board had rejected the use of Roberts' Rules out of concern for the rigidity and formality that it might impose upon the Board's proceedings. After further discussion the Board voted unanimously to use the current edition of Roberts' Rules of Order to resolve any problems regarding the meetings of the Board. ELECTrON OF CHArRPERSON AND VrCE CHArRPERSON Current Chairperson, Melinda Riddle, declined to serve another term as Chairperson stating that she believed it was necessary to provide new direction to the Board. An original motion to nominate Melinda Riddle to continue as Chairperson was withdrawn by Nelson Munoz in response to Ms. Riddle's comments. Don Price moved to nominate Ana Rodriquez for Chairperson and that was seconded by Marjorie Nelson. Ana Rodriquez, in turn, nominated Nelson Munoz for chairperson and that motion was seconded by John Ortega. Both motions failed because of the lack of either motion to obtain support by at least 5 members of the Board (the votes were 3-4 as to the Price motion and 4-3 as to the Rodriquez motion). Don Price moved to have Ana ROdriquez serve as chairperson and Nelson Munoz as Vice Chairperson. This was seconded by John Ortega. The Board voted unanimously to elect Ana Rodriquez as Chairperson and Nelson Munoz as Vice Chairperson. -2- Hispanic Affairs Advisory Board Minutes July 7, 1993 Page 3 COMPREHENsrVE REPORT Chairperson, Melinda Riddle, stressed the need to complete and organize a comprehensive report to be combined with the efforts of the Black Affairs Advisory Board for presentation of the Department of Equal Opportunity proposal to the Board of County Commissioners. A brief discussion was held regarding several sections of the comprehensive report. Ana Rodriquez, who is preparing the Law Enforcement section of the report mentioned that she had received information regarding the city of Naples police and their minority hiring practices. Her first impression was that there may be some type of "quota" system in the hiring plan of the City of Naples Police. She found that out of 75 officers hired, 3 blacks and 4 Hispanics had been recruited but that the Naples Police efforts appeared to have stopped at the point where they meet minimal EEO requirements. Chairperson Riddle commented that this appeared to be a minimal effort or perhaps even a "ceiling" as opposed to a "floor." Chairperson Riddle further stressed to the members that, as exemplified by the law enforcement data, the data needs to be the basis for observations and conclusions of the Hispanic Board. John ortega mentioned that he had obtained detailed census data to create a demographic profile of the Hispanic community in Collier County. He mentioned that most private employers do not divulge there hiring practices. Nelson Munoz mentioned that he was shocked to find that in Collier County last year Sunbank had no black consumer loan applications and only four Hispanic consumer loan applications. Chairperson Riddle stressed the need for a minimum 2-3 sentence comment by each writer for each area of the report providing observations and conclusions. She mentioned that as one of her last official acts as Chairperson she wanted to set up several workshops in July to attempt to complete the preparation of the report. The first workshop was scheduled for July 7 from 6:00 - 9:00 p.m. at the Central Library. The second workshop would be July 12 from 6:00 - 9:00 p.m. at the Central Library. -3- Hispanic Affairs Advisory Board Minutes July 7, 1993 Page 4 DEPARTMENT OF EOUAL OPPORTUNrTY PROPOSAL Black Affairs Advisory Board Member Henry Tribble mentioned to the Hispanic Board that he was in the process of explaining the proposal to individual members of the Collier County Board of County Commissioners. He also had obtained statistical information from the Florida Human Rights Commission and was seeking data regarding EEOC complaints generated from Collier County. Mr. Tribble stated that he had obtained endorsement for the proposal from Collier united for Rights and Equality ("CURE"). "CURE" was also circulating petitions in support of the proposal to area churches. Mr. Tribble mentioned that the scaled down version of the present DEO proposal assumes a cost of somewhere between one-hundred ten to one-hundred and twenty thousand dollars per year. There have not yet been made any projections made for later years. However, Mr. Tribble added that the Board of County Commissioners should not be concerned about increased expenditures in later years since it would be within their control as to whether there would be any increased expenditure. Mr. Tribble answered questions from the Hispanic Board regarding the creation of a "Human Rights Commission." This is a widely used structure and gives independence to the agency for future enforcement powers. It would be comprised of a spectrum of citizens interested in civil rights and equal opportunities. It would be an informed Board, since there training would be required for their membership. It would have staggered terms for its members allowing for continuity despite political change. This commission could serve to set policy for the Department of Equal Opportunity staff. The Hispanic Board members raised the question as to whether the Board of County Commissioners could create a separate commission which would be independent of the manager and even maybe of the BCC itself. The members compared creation of such a commission with the recent creation of the airport authority. Ana ROdriquez believed that the minority boards should have input into the number of members on such a commission, if it were created. The next discussion centered on the wording of the petition in support of the Department of Equal Opportunity proposal. Mr. Tribble explained that the reference to the beach access issues -4- Hispanic Affairs Advisory Board Minutes July 7, 1993 Page 5 was merely to illustrate large county spending in an area that benefits many non-county people as opposed to the Department of Equal Opportunity which would be almost exclusively for the benefit of Collier County residents. Melinda Riddle and Ana Rodriquez stated their concerns about the potential distraction from the DEO proposal which would be created by mentioning a controversial topic such as beach access. Ana Rodriquez stressed the need to keep the proposal positive. John Ortega also thought that the petition should refer to the potentially positive results of the DEO proposal. Chairperson Melinda Riddle stressed the need to show the Board of County Commissioners concrete examples of how a vote for the Department of Equal Opportunity will assist minorities. She suggested that the Hispanic and Black Affairs Advisory Boards be prepared to answer the recurring group of questions which had been previously identified in relation to the previous presentation of the DEO proposal. Staff Liaison Ramiro Manalich added that Mr. Valdez has presented specific examples of the ineffectiveness of the present state and federal equal opportunity and civil rights enforcement mechanisms. Mr. Valdez cited the example of the Manuel Rodriquez law suite versus Collier County and the cost and time spent on the case which could have been avoided had a Department of Equal Opportunity been available to resolve the matter in Collier County. JOrNT WORKSHOP OF BAAB , HAAB It was decided that there would be a joint workshop of the two Boards to be held on Saturday, July 31, 1993 at 1:00 p.m. at the Collier county Public Library (Golden Gate). PUBLrc COMMENTS Mr. victor Valdez, Hispanic Rights Advocate, asked the Hispanic Affairs Advisory Board to inquire with the Sheriff of Collier County as to the number of complaints against the Sheriff's department made by Hispanics. He produced a letter from the Sheriff that identified approximately 152 Internal Affairs files opened from 1/1/91 through 3/1/93. He asked the Hispanic Affairs Advisory Board to further inquire with the Sheriff to clarify these statistics. -5- Hispanic Affairs Advisory Board Minutes July 7, 1993 Page 6 The meeting of the Hispanic Affairs Advisory Board was adjourned at 8:55 p.m. Respectfully submitted by: Ramiro Manalich Staff Liaison to the Hispanic Affairs Advisory Board APPROVED BY THE BOARD ON , 1993 Ana Rodriquez Chairman of the Board rmljrn478 -6-