West Central Reporter

City of Jacksonville Commission on Disabilities and Human Relations met Aug. 2.

Here is the agenda provided by the Commission:

Members Present

Larry Whewell, Brenton Allen, Alan Bradish, Guy Crumley, Cyndy Benton and, new member, Eddie Lowe.

Meeting Called to Order

The meeting was called to order by Chair, Larry Whewell, at 4:02 p.m.

JCDHR Members Introduce Selves to New Member

Members of the JCDHR took turns introducing them self to JCDHR’s newly appointed member, Eddie Lowe.

June 7, 2018 Meeting Minutes

Members were asked by the Chair if they had received a copy of the June 7th meeting minutes and if they had any questions or suggested changes to them. When there were no questions or suggested changes, Alan Bradish made a motion to accept the minutes as printed, with Guy Crumley seconding the motion and all members present voting in favor of accepting the June 7, 2018 meeting minutes as printed.

JCDHR Brochure

Larry Whewell said that the JCDHR Brochure has been tabled for several months and that Cyndy Benton had an outline of suggested information to replace its existing brochure. Ms. Benton handed out the outline she had developed and asked members to review it against the Commission’s existing brochure. She explained that everything contained in the brochure handout came directly from Article X of the City’s Municipal Code that regulates the actions of JCDHR. She explained that the amount of information in the outline is probably too much for a single brochure. She suggested the Commission develop an informational brochure as well as an educational one that can be used in different scenarios. She pointed out that Article X gives JCDHR the authority to mediate discriminatory situations and facilitate change to promote equal rights. She suggested that an educational brochure might be useful foreitherofthesepurposes. Membersagreedtoreviewtheoutlineofsuggestedbrochureinformation and be ready to make decisions about it at JCDHR’s September 2018 meeting. Therefore, no formal action was needed or taken about updating the Commission’s brochure.

New Member

When asked to, Eddie Lowe took a few minutes to provide JCDHR members with a short biography. He reported that he was raised in Jacksonville and educated as a Registered Nurse in Springfield. He said he wasthefatheroftwodaughtersandatele-nurseatSpringfieldClinic. Hesaidheworksfromhishome in Jacksonville. He told members about the Envision Illinois work group he previously sat on that developed a brochure that covered domestic violence and people with disabilities living in Morgan County. He said he was looking forward to being a member of the JCDHR.

Chief Mefford Presentation at JACIL

Ms. Benton reported that Chief Mefford had done a presentation at JACIL in July and she was very pleased with his presentation to about 13 people with disabilities. She stated he not only shared relevant information with those attending but also seemed comfortable with speaking to the group and workingwithanASLInterpreter. LarryWhewellsuggestedtheJCDHRinviteChiefMeffordtoafuture

JCDHR meeting. Brenton Allen said he felt the healthier the JPD is the safer Jacksonville will be. When asked to facilitate the Chief of Police coming to a JCDHR meeting, Alan Bradish told members he would try to schedule a time for the Chief of Police to come to a meeting.

Executive Session

Chair Larry Whewell said the JCDHR needed to go into an Executive “Closed” Session to discuss a citizen complainttheyhadreceivedinJuly. Atwhichtime,CyndyBentonmadeamotiontogointoan Executive Session, with Alan Bradish seconding the motion and all members present voting in favor of goingintoanExecutiveSessiontodiscusstheCitizenComplaintithadreceived. JCDHRwentinto Executive Session at 4:25 p.m.

Come Out of Executive Session

Brenton Allen made the motion to come out of Executive “closed” Session and Alan Bradish seconded the motion. All members present voted to come out of its Executive Session at 4:55 p.m.

July 9th 2018 Citizen Complaint

The JCDHR voted to determine this citizen complaint to be unfounded because it was submitted before any act of discrimination or prejudice had occurred. It was also decided that the JCDHR could make this a “Reasonable Accommodation” learning opportunity for area businesses. JCDHR also decided to thank the complainant for pointing the lack of full accessibility out so it could be corrected before the event occurred.

Since Chair Whewell had recused himself from be a sitting member on the subcommittee to investigate this Citizen Complaint, Alan Bradish volunteered to take his place, Cyndy Benton made a motion for the two members of the subcommittee, present at the meeting, which is charged with investigating the complaint--Alan Bradish and Brenton Allen---be the ones to develop the JCDHR response to the citizen complaint. The letter will contain JCDHR investigative findings and any follow up actions suggested during JCDHR’s Executive Session. Eddie Lowe seconded the motion and all members present voted to have them follow through with JCDHR response to the July 9th Citizen Complaint.

Meeting Adjourned

The meeting was adjourned at 5:07 p.m. with a motion from Guy Crumley that was seconded by Larry Whewell. All JCDHR members present unanimously voted to adjourn the meeting at 5:07 p.m.

http://www.jacksonvilleil.gov/city_government/boards_commissions_and_committees/docs/Boards%20Commissions%20Committees/Disabilities_&_HR_Minutes/2018/Minutes%208.2.18.pdf