Peoria Standard

City of Peoria Fair Employment Commission met Sept. 12.

Here are the minutes provided by the commission:

Call to Order/Roll Call

Chair Sherry Carter-Allen, called to order the regular meeting of the Fair Employment Commission at 4:38 pm on 9.12.2024 - Meeting Held in Room 110, Peoria City Hall.

Clara Gonzalez, as acting City of Peoria-Staff Liaison, conducted a roll call. The following persons were present: Chair—Sherry Carter-Allen; Commissioner Solivian Dismuke; Commissioner Ronald Ruffin; Commissioner Anupama Uddavolu; Commissioner Denise Moore. Not present: Vice Chair Carl Holloway; Commissioner Strickland. Quorum Established.

Approval of Meeting Minutes:

Approval of August 8thth, 2024, Meeting Minutes:

Chair Carter – Allen calls for a motion to approve, Commissioner Moore moves to approve, seconded by Commissioner Uddavolu.

Chair Carter- Allen Calls for a vote of “aye,” All in favor, motion carries.

New Business:

I. Tabled pending Attorney Green’s return

Unfinished Business:

II. Commissioner Strickland Draft Pamphlet/ Presentation is postponed until the next meeting as Commissioner Strickland could not be present.

Chair Carter-Allen asks Commissioner Moore about speaking about the FEC on radio for marketing purposes?

Denise Moore: Perhaps we can put this information out on the city website and it would be best to wait until the educational materials are completed before we make radio announcements so that there is a place to direct the public. Once sent my Commissioner Strickland we can review and make comments.

Dismuke: We should discuss at the next meeting whether the brochures are completed so that we can move forward with the education.

Chair Carter Allen: We would encourage the draft of the pamphlet be completed so that we can review materials and move forward with education about the commission.

III. Future Guests for the Commission:

Commissioner Moore: The materials will help guide us as to who we should bring in to speak with the commission. We want to make sure that we know what we are speaking about once we obtain the materials and we will work with Attorney Green for guidance. It would be nice to launch the educational materials by January. If employment attorneys in town could speak to us about what they are seeing people come in with in terms of complaints, that would be helpful.

Chair Carter Allen: Chapter 17 provides our major guidance, and we want to make sure that the materials match the ordinance. Most of the calls to Attorney Green are for employees with more than 15 employees. We may be able to have our information ready at the minority procurement equity to unveil the pamphlet. The increase in diversity in Black contractors was a positive thing to see and it would be appropriate to contribute as a commission somehow.

Commissioner Uddavolu: We could also bring people to the PeAP listing at an event like the expo as well.

Chair Carter- Allen: We discussed a potential field trip or having a speaker from Champaign come speak to the FEC. This could be a refresher for our PeAP training. We want to keep focused on the educational materials and guest speakers. Bringing in stakeholders like IDES, economic development, is important.

Commissioner Moore: Champaign has a larger group and there is a van that could potentially take us to Champaign. It is important to understand unemployment numbers as well. Commissioner Moore shared details of the upcoming Gala which is held at the same time as the NAACP state convention.

People are often seeking grant writing class services and the addition of Black Business Month ties all of these things together. The small business expo will be postponed until the spring.

Adjournment:

Chair Carter- Allen calls for a Motion to Adjourn at 5:04PM: Commissioner Moore Motions to Adjourn, Seconded by Commissioner Uddavolu

Community Input: None

https://il-peoria.civicplus.com/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Minutes/_09122024-710