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Mr. Taylor underscored the importance of citizen involvement in government through participation on boards and commissions. He cited the joint meeting with the Human Rights Commission (HRC) as an example of the council's partnership with citizens. He introduced Human Rights Commission Chair Sara Rich and Vice Chair Mo Young to present the commission's report and work plan. Ms. Rich thanked the council for the opportunity to meet jointly and asked the other commissioners to introduce themselves. She directed the council's attention to the "Eugene Human Rights Program: Strength in Differences" containing the commission's annual report to the council for the period September 2003 through June 2004 and the proposed work plan for Fiscal Year 2005. She highlighted some of the commission's accomplishments, particularly responding to hate issues. She said the commission's doors were open to anyone who needed assistance and support to have a safer life in the community. She noted that Eugene's Human Rights Program received a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) award as a result of efforts following September 11, 2001. She said that the commission also distributed leaflets countering the spread of hate literature in Eugene. She praised the mayor for his responsiveness to groups that were threatened and felt vulnerable and commended the council for its leadership against hate. Ms. Rich related that the commission addressed in its work plan the need to accommodate emerging issues not anticipated when the plan was established. She gave examples of emerging issues during the past year such as the exclusion of singles from the FOOD for Lane County Dining Room, housing standards, the CLEAR Act, the downtown ordinance, and the Defense of Marriage Act. Ms. Young distributed information sheets on the Youth Forum on July 28, 2004. She said the commission hoped through the forum to develop a better understanding of what issues were important to youth and said a series of study circles and dialogues would be held in the fall, followed by an action forum. HRC member Sheila Coats reported on the Gender Identity Work Group. She thanked the mayor and the council for the opportunity to educate the community about gender identity. She said two workshops per month had been held over the past year and more presentations with churches, school districts, and businesses were planned. She noted that gender identity was removed from the human anti-discrimination ordinance in 2002 in order to allow additional time for the community to become better educated on the subject. She said that much progress had been made and the commission hoped to meet its education goals by the spring of 2005. A code revision to add gender identity to the ordinance would then be requested. She also thanked the city manager for initiating some of the round table discussions that were very informative. HRC member Andrea Ortiz addressed the commission's cooperative work with the Police Department. She reported that the HRC and Police Commission formed a joint task force to establish a policy for the use of Social Security numbers. She said that the new policy was already in use by the Police Department. She said the commission was also working with the Police Commission's Racial Profiling Task Force and on the review of the police complaint process. She observed that all of those issues related to working with communities of color and the commission would be requesting funds from the council to conduct community outreach on those issues and provide a consistent message and contact. She noted that the City had adopted a policy to accept the Matricula Consular (Mexican ID card) as a valid form of identification. MINUTES--Eugene City Council July 26, 2004 Page 3 Work Session