Versailles-Midway-Woodford County Human Rights Commission
Woodford County Fiscal Court-Woodford County Courthouse
Minutes of Meeting
10/7/2021
The regular bi-monthly meeting of the Versailles-Midway-Woodford County Human Rights Commission, held on October 7, 2021, was called to order at 6:25pm by Commission Chairperson Tim Middleton.
Commission members present: Cindy Batts, Kyle Fannin, Tim Middleton, Chris Wright, Cierra Spalding, and Elizabeth Turley.
Commission members absent: Jorge Espinoza, Darlene Jackson, Joann Muir,
Comments/Questions from members of the public: N/A.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Motion was made by Kyle Fannin, and seconded by Libby Turley, for the approval of the minutes of the 8/5/2021 meeting as presented. Motion passed.
TREASURER’S REPORT: Report was distributed by treasurer Kyle Fannin. There is a balance in the checking account of $5,036.53, which includes the account for the Imagination Library in the amount of $3,211.46.
Motion was made by Cindy Batts and seconded by Libby Turley to accept the treasurer’s report as presented. Motion passed.
Discussion about separating the Imagination Library account from the Commission account along with discussion of changing banks due to some difficulties with current process. Cindy Batts made the motion to allow Kyle Fannin to change financial institutions for the Commission with input from the Commission as needed. Chris Wright seconded. Motion passed. It was also decided to let the person in charge of the Imagination Library funds know that those funds will need to be removed from the Commission’s oversight by the end of the year due to changes in banking.
OLD BUSINESS:
Woodford County Twilight Festival (Sept 25, 2021) Comments and improvements: The backpacks that were handed out were a success (these were given to us by the Louisville Commission). It was suggested that we come up with something visual to show at the next festival (like a power point of things the Commission does). It was also suggested that we have some specific information about a particular issue that is timely (like how financial institutions are still able to deny people of color or charge more interest to people of color when borrowing money). Another suggestion was to have some sort of game for children that pertains to what the Commission does.
Telephone/Google phone: The Commission does have a Google account for apps and a website domain. It is probable that this includes the Google phone app. Discussed options of accessing this. It was set up before any current Commissioners were appointed, so the phone number/email address associated with this account is likely unusable for the retrieval of the account. Cierra Spalding will check into what is currently associated with this Google account and see if it is possible to update the information. Kyle will talk with one of the former Commissioners to see if they know how this was set up and what phone number/email address was given.
NEW BUSINESS:
Commission Attire: Discussed possibly getting T-shirts made for Commissioners to wear when representing the Commission at festivals and other events. Will look more into this.
Brochure: Libby Turley has been working on a new brochure. She will send out a copy of it to get feedback from the Commissioners.
Training: Libby Turley will talk next meeting about open records and the Commissions responsibilities with this. Will also talk some about how to balance this with privacy of persons involved in complaints. Cierra Spalding will check into possibility of getting some general Commission trainings for future meetings.
Other Business: Libby Turley brought to the attention of the Commission that the Fairness Ordinance does not address sexual identity or sexual orientation with regards to credit, and does not give recourse for discrimination in these cases.
Community Opinion: This Commission feels that improving public relations would be beneficial at this time. Discussed opportunities to join other groups and allow the community to see Commissioners and be able to talk together about challenges and achievements. Chris Wright will look more into this. Discussed possibly asking a few young people to join some Commission meetings as community members to talk about challenges that they see. Kyle Fannin will look more into this. Discussed finding a way to link positive news articles to the website or the Facebook page. Cindy Batts and Cierra Spalding will look more into this. Discussed possibly having a dinner once a month or every other month for the community to discuss needs and challenges. Will look into this.
NEXT MEETING: Thursday December 2, 2021 at Spark Community Café
Motion for adjournment was made by Libby Turley and seconded by Chris Wright. Motion passed.
Respectfully submitted,
Cindy Batts
Secretary