Peoria Standard

City of Peoria Fair Employment Commission met June 10.

Here is the minutes provided by the commission:

I. Call to Order

Commission Chair Sherry Carter-Allen, called to order the regular meeting of the Fair Employment Commission at 4:48 pm on 06/10/2021.

II. Roll Call

Debra Bush, Affirmative Employment Specialist, as City of Peoria Staff Liaison, conducted a roll call. The following persons were present: Debra Bush as City of Peoria staff liaison; Commissioners—Sherry Carter-Allen (Chair), Carl Holloway, David McGinty (Vice Chair) – by telephone, Laraine Bryson – by telephone, and Rev. Barry Robinson – by telephone. Absent: Dr. Melanie Anderson; Quorum Established. Former Councilwoman Denise Moore was also present at the meeting as a private citizen.

Approval of minutes from last meeting

Commission Chair Carter-Allen calls for approval of the meeting minutes from the March 11, 2021 meeting. Motion to approve the minutes is made by Commissioner Carl Holloway and seconded by Commissioner Barry Robinson. Motion carries by unanimous vote.

Commission Chair Carter-Allen stated that Governor Pritzkar lifted the order and we are in Phase 5 of the COVID-19 mitigation.

Commission Chair Carter-Allen stated she had a discussion with Mrs. Bush and Stefanie Tarr, City Clerk, regarding Zoom meetings.

Commission Chair Carter-Allen stated we go back to regular “in-person” meetings on June 26, 2021, returning to City Hall as there will be no further Zoom Meetings.

Commission Chair Carter-Allen stated that the only way someone would be able to call in would be to establish a quorum first and then vote to allow someone to call in for the meeting.

Commission Chair Carter-Allen stated that next month we would resume on-site meetings at City Hall in Room 110 if available.

III. New Business

Commission Chair Carter-Allen stated that there had been some changes to the Fair Housing Commission and informed the Commission that Former Councilperson Denise Moore will be appointed on June 22, 2021 by Mayor Ali as a new Commissioner to the Fair Employment Commission, filling Former Commissioner Chuck Brown’s seat, who had resigned from the Commission. Chair Carter-Allen asked Mrs. Moore if she would like to have comments.

Denise Moore stated that the reasons the Fair Employment Commission and the Fair Housing Commission were separated was because she felt they were being diluted. The housing and employment together impact the same household separately. There are two different things that they are focusing on; getting a decent affordable housing and the other is trying to find a livable wage job.

Denise Moore stated when the division happened, the Commission did exactly what she wanted it to do and by having a strong leadership in Commission Chair Sherry Carter-Allen, the Commission was well on its way to achieving the goals she has set for the Commission.

Denise Moore stated that she wants to be on the Commission to support what they are already doing and to direct them to places where there are already funds available.

Denise Moore stated for example, the CDBG Public Service Commission, the Council has already approved them as one of the factors will be they will allow people to request a grant. The minimal amount of the grant is $15,000 and they have given out up to $22,000 and the State also added some extra money.

Denise Moore stated she was hoping that this Commission would be able to work with the CDBG Commission when they start interviewing the candidates for the employment grant. This Commission should have some input on the grant, maybe not the deciding factor, but some input as to the value of that person’s application and to what they are trying to do in the community.

Commission Chair Carter Allen stated Commissioner Holloway had brought up that some of the smaller businesses that would apply for the grants can’t afford to pay for the audit.

Commission Chair Carter Allen stated that she hoped that this Commission would have impact on helping small businesses to find dollars that may afford them to afford required audits that will in turn afford opportunity for available grants to be secured.

Denise Moore stated that the Commission could help connect smaller groups with groups like the Urban League, Development Center, etc., and then they would be able to get the audit done through them and have a better chance at applying for grant money.

Denise Moore stated that it is like we are looking back and bringing people forward while we are walking forward.

Commission Vice Chair David McGinty stated that he feels the Commission has studied and laid out a strategic path to accomplish goals set forth. Vice Chair McGinty stated that he would like to meet with Mrs. Moore and bring back recommendations to act on to move the process of implementation along; Mrs. Moore agreed to the meeting and they both will bring back a report at the next meeting.

Commission Chair Carter-Allen stated that after they meet, the recommendations brought back will be reviewed and discussed and if there is cause for any language changes, Legal will be notified for their counsel and we will make our final recommendation and request for approval to City Council.

Denise Moore stated that technically the Commission does not have a Council Liaison at this time, but in the future the Commission could talk about who they feel would be a good fit and have the knowledge and skills needed to be a part of this Commission.

Commission Chair Carter-Allen stated that the Employer Handbook will remain the agenda until it is finished.

Commission Chair Carter-Allen stated that they conferred with HR Director Mary Ann Stalcup during her presentation to the Commission about the handbook and she really liked the idea.

Commission Chair Carter-Allen asked Vice Chair McGinty to give a brief overview of what the handbook would look like.

Vice Chair McGinty stated that the handbook would be distributed to small businesses and others as needed and it would outline federal, state, and local grants available; volunteer opportunities; and many other things that may not be directly assessable to them.

Vice Chair McGinty stated that someone could drive around and deliver the handbook to local businesses and it would outline what they need to know about how to run a business, resources available to them and much more.

Vice Chair McGinty stated that maybe we could get sponsors and volunteers to help with the printing, distribution, and things to put in the handbook.

Commission Chair Carter-Allen stated that Commissioner Laraine Bryson would be a great asset to give major input on small business needs and City Staff may be available to assist in identifying those small businesses.

Denise Moore stated that there was a small business community navigator grant that was due to apply yesterday. For example, here in Peoria, the Greater Peoria Economic Development Council (EDC) would be the organization that applied for the grant, and they would work with small businesses to apply for the grant.

The Commission would help them better prepare to apply for grants as they come available through the EDC.

Denise Moore stated that the businesses that get the grants would need to hire people, which they have never had to do before, and Vice Chair McGinty would be there to help them get people to fill the jobs.

Denise Moore asked Commissioner Bryson if the Urban League used a job board in Peoria like they do in Springfield, and she said they did not.

Denise Moore stated that it would be something that Peoria could use to advertise in accordance with the Employer Handbook.

Denise Moore stated that she would share the handbook from Lyst that was provided to the Minority Business Development Center as an example.

Denise Moore stated that they sent her a template and she would send it to Debra Bush to send out to the Commission.

Commission Chair Carter-Allen stated that Debra Bush is the Affirmative Employment Specialist in the City of Peoria Human Resources Department, and her expertise in diversity and inclusion in terms of going out and recruiting would be an asset and wanted her to have some input into the Employer Handbook.

Commission Chair Carter-Allen stated that even when the Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer is hired, she would like for Debra Bush to remain a part of that project.

Vice Chair McGinty stated that not only do we want businesses to get grants, but we may need to find someone to help them write the grants. This would be something else the Commission could help with in the future by getting sponsorships to help.

Denise Moore stated that the City of Peoria has a Grants Department that may want to assist small business. Mrs. Moore further stated that Ameren approached her a few weeks ago and they have an organization that is looking for people to write grants for energy efficiency projects which could lead into other employment opportunities.

Commissioner Bryson stated that grant writing is an obstacle and there are very few people that do it well. For the smaller businesses having all the documentation and putting it together takes up some time, which most them probably don’t have much of that.

Denise Moore stated that the Fair Housing Commission has been co-opted and they are about to mirror the land bank. The goals and objectives that were originally set before them has been completely flipped.

Denise Moore stated that there is little resemblance in the original objective to help low-income individuals obtain affordable housing.

Denise Moore stated that we will see where it goes, which was why Commission Chair Carter-Allen keeps emphasizing that we must make sure that our Mission is within the guides of Chapter 17 of the City Ordinance.

Hiring Diversity & Inclusion for the City of Peoria

Commission Chair Carter-Allen asked Debra Bush for a report.

Debra Bush stated that we have an offer out for a new Police Chief, who is a Hispanic male from Elgin, Illinois. He was heavily involved in recruiting minorities, and he was also a Residence Officer for many years. The City of Peoria used him as the example to start our programs.

Debra Bush stated that we hired 16 Firefighters and there were five minorities out of the 16.

Debra Bush stated that we are in the process of getting ready to hire five Police Recruits and there are quite a few minorities on this list. They will start in September and any of those left over will start in January 2021.

Adjournment

Commissioner Chair Carter-Allen called for a motion to adjourn; motion to adjourn by Commissioner Bryson and seconded by Commissioner Carl Holloway. Motion carries by unanimous vote.

Meeting Adjourned: 5:33 p.m.

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