1 1 BEFORE THE STATE OF INDIANA 2 CIVIL RIGHTS COMMISSION 3 - - - 4 5 PUBLIC MEETING OF JULY 29, 2016 6 7 8 - - - 9 PROCEEDINGS 10 in the above-captioned matter, before the Indiana 11 Civil Rights Commission, Alpha Blackburn, 12 Chairperson, taken before me, Lindy L. Meyer, 13 Jr., a Notary Public in and for the State of 14 Indiana, County of Shelby, at the Indiana 15 Government Center South, Conference Center, 16 Rooms 1 & 2, 402 West Washington Street, 17 Indianapolis, Indiana, on Friday, July 29, 2016 18 at 1:11 o'clock p.m. 19 - - - 20 21 William F. Daniels, RPR/CP CM d/b/a ACCURATE REPORTING OF INDIANA 22 12922 Brighton Avenue Carmel, Indiana 46032 23 (317) 848-0088 2 1 APPEARANCES: 2 COMMISSION MEMBERS: 3 Alpha Blackburn, Chairperson Kent Hull 4 Sheryl Edwards 5 INDIANA CIVIL RIGHTS COMMISSION 6 By Richard A. Hite, Director/Secretary & Barbara Malone, Deputy Director 7 Indiana Government Center North 100 North Senate Avenue, Room N300 8 Indianapolis, Indiana 46204 On behalf of the Commission. 9 10 OTHER COMMISSION STAFF PRESENT: 11 Shumura Trammell Debra Bluitt 12 John Burkhardt 13 - - - 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 3 1 1:11 o'clock a.m. July 29, 2016 2 - - - 3 CHAIRPERSON BLACKBURN: The Indiana 4 Civil Rights Commission is now in public meeting, 5 and you have in your notebooks the agenda. We 6 are shy of a quorum. Comm. Young could not be 7 here today, nor Comm. Ramos, who had a 8 last-minute medical emergency in his family. So, 9 we will proceed with the meeting, however, to 10 cover reports and items not requiring a vote 11 today. 12 Welcome, everybody who has been able to 13 attend. We have been short of a few people, 14 making it through the summer with a skeleton 15 crew, so I want to thank you all for pitching in 16 and doing whatever extra work has been required 17 of you during this time. 18 I would ask for us to skip Item B, which 19 requires an adoption of the minutes of the last 20 meeting, which would have been in May, and move 21 to the Financial Report, in case there are any 22 questions about that that we might pass on to 23 Ms. Blackwell. 4 1 MS. MALONE: I should inform the 2 Commission that Ms. Shumura Trammell has been 3 serving kind of in the place of Ms. Blackwell, 4 who resigned from the agency effective July 8th, 5 and we have -- are posting for that position as 6 it is currently, with the hopes of filling it as 7 soon as possible. 8 (Mr. Hite arrived.) 9 MS. MALONE: We are -- to that end, 10 we are in audit with the State Board of Accounts, 11 and that's finishing up, and hopefully the 12 results of that will be done by the end of -- end 13 of August, and we probably, perhaps depending 14 upon that audit, will be reporting maybe in 15 Executive Session at that time. 16 Mr. Hite? 17 MR. HITE: Madam Chair, members of 18 the Commission, I apologize. 19 CHAIRPERSON BLACKBURN: Good 20 afternoon, sir. We're glad that you're here. 21 MR. HITE: Thank you. 22 CHAIRPERSON BLACKBURN: Your Deputy 23 Director is in the middle of -- 5 1 MR. HITE: She's doing an outstanding 2 job, isn't she? 3 CHAIRPERSON BLACKBURN: Always. 4 MR. HITE: I insist she carry on. 5 CHAIRPERSON BLACKBURN: All right. 6 Are there any questions regarding the 7 Financial Report? 8 MS. MALONE: As you can see, the 9 current balance is here before you. The first 10 page includes not only the Commission, of which 11 you have responsibility, but the other cultural 12 commissions, of which we have administrative 13 oversight. That includes the Indiana Commission 14 on Women, the Indiana Social Status of Black 15 Males, the Martin Luther King Commission, and the 16 Native-American Commission, as well as the Latino 17 Commission. 18 We continue to do workshops throughout the 19 state for attorneys that are doing CLE, and we 20 are moving forward with providing resources to a 21 number of our partners throughout the state, and 22 I'll probably let Mr. Hite further elaborate on 23 that. I think you can see that everything -- if 6 1 you have any questions, I -- hopefully I can 2 answer them, and I need to -- 3 CHAIRPERSON BLACKBURN: Are there any 4 questions about the finances? 5 (No response.) 6 CHAIRPERSON BLACKBURN: Okay. 7 Thanks. 8 Hearing none, let us move then to Item C 9 on your agenda today, which is the Executive 10 Director's Report. 11 Good afternoon again. 12 MR. HITE: Good afternoon, Madam 13 Chair, once again. I just want to make sure that 14 I note -- not in an attempt to be redundant, but 15 as always, thank you for your participation and 16 the Commission's participation in our events, and 17 for those times we've reached out for wise 18 counsel, thank you for your input, direction, and 19 sometimes correction. 20 As it stands, there are new challenges of 21 which you've heard so far in the report, and 22 again, I'm trying not to be redundant, as much of 23 what I have to report on, I think my Deputy 7 1 Director did an outstanding job of covering many 2 of the events, and part of the places we've gone 3 and things we've done. 4 I think one of the things we want to talk 5 about real quickly is the role of the community 6 in terms of the CR -- ICRC in marketing and event 7 calendars as part of the Commission. What we try 8 to do is market ourselves internally and 9 externally, to be more effective and efficient. 10 We're looking at -- right now, for 11 example, we're looking at staffing issues, as you 12 heard, building a team and marketing and what we 13 have as the ICRC, and I think our tangibles, the 14 more people we find, I think, in coming on board 15 to do this type of work. So, we're looking for 16 an extended work force. We're looking for people 17 here who are about the service and about the 18 business of serving the community. 19 And as such, we're expanding boundaries, I 20 think, a bit beyond just what we normally do, as 21 you know, the core mission of ICRC since 1961, 22 but also looking at current events and being 23 relevant to the mission as we know it. In that, 8 1 we are attending the race reconciliation meetings 2 that have been taken place for the last 15 years, 3 the Urban League at the first of the month, 4 providing an exchange of great ideas, and 5 information's coming out of that. 6 And we're seeing ourselves in that role in 7 terms of identifying challenges before they 8 become crisis and the whole issue of civil 9 disobedience and civil disturbance is something 10 that's been coming upon our radar as well when we 11 go to those meetings. 12 We talked about the issue in terms of the 13 various communities and diversity, and we talked 14 about the Burmese community, for example, and 15 Barbara covered some of this already, but also we 16 see issues and challenges in the community around 17 discrimination and unfair practices. We'll be 18 responding to the scenes, engaging the community 19 and finding out why -- the root causes in those 20 neighborhoods. 21 Most recently we had an issue of an 22 incident that happened over the weekend in 23 Fishers relative to information of the Klu Klux 9 1 Klan, being someone in the neighborhood passing 2 out literature that we responded to, both the law 3 enforcement -- and reached out to them and the 4 local community and clergy in the community; 5 i.e., Pastor Jeffrey Johnson, who has the largest 6 African-American church in that community. 7 Along with that, we also have had some 8 opportunity to bring people on board, even -- in 9 terms of the past, and we're going to continue to 10 do that, making sure we reach out and provide 11 information to the community for that purpose. 12 But as it was just stated, we are having some 13 discussions with people about volunteering within 14 ICRC, and working with our local human rights 15 partners. 16 We had a great conference in Evansville 17 June 21st through 25th, and out of that 18 conference came -- and resolute work of all of us 19 just being present, administrative presence, in 20 each of these communities. We received an award 21 from the consortium, and yours truly, I think I 22 must have been -- because I wasn't at the 23 meeting, I got elected -- appointed to 10 1 Vice-President of the consortium. So, I'm 2 honored to be able to serve in that capacity, but 3 it says that we at least turned the corner in 4 terms of communication, I think. 5 We also attended the conference in 6 Washington, D.C. around the human rights agencies 7 under the NIFA [sic], the National Fair Housing 8 Association, and got a chance to hear how the 9 other half sees what we do. So, the PHIP's and 10 the PHAP's were able to get together. We had a 11 very interesting time about how they view the 12 world in terms of our ability to reach out and 13 adjudicate cases versus their advocacy for the 14 community and the members. 15 So, we were able to strike an accord with 16 them, and I think we'll be attending more of 17 their conferences, and hopefully we'll be able to 18 use some of the talent together, jointly, during 19 the Fair Housing Month in April. 20 Along with that, we were able to attend 21 the retirement luncheon for one of our stalwarts 22 in our business, in EEOC, the retirement luncheon 23 for Webster Smith on June 29th. As you know, 11 1 Webster is well known in the community, well 2 known in the EEOC world, and it was really good 3 to be a part of that, but also to have him 4 finally be recognized and given his just due when 5 we presented him with an award for his service. 6 We -- the Deputy Director and I attended 7 the Mayor's annual IBE Breakfast at the 8 Convention Center. We also attended the 9 Governor's Reception. We were part of his 10 planning committee, and honored several worthy 11 people in the community at that event. 12 We also were part of the community -- I'm 13 sorry -- the IBE Summer Celebration Education 14 Conference. We helped sponsor that, and we 15 participated on several panels, sharing 16 information with the community around education, 17 and particularly around suspensions and 18 expulsions of young people in school, finding 19 alternatives to that, and being proactive in 20 educating them just as to civil rights around 21 education, which, as you know, is part of our 22 core mission as well. 23 We also had a chance to participate in the 12 1 luncheon, and I had an opportunity to spend some 2 time in Washington with the Attorney General, 3 several chiefs around the country, prosecutors, 4 mental health types, to talk about what's 5 happening in our nation's capital around the 6 issue of violence, police and community 7 engagement, but also civil disobedience and civil 8 disturbance and what should be the role of the 9 civil rights agencies, what should be the role of 10 law enforcement, and also how we begin to prepare 11 to develop a relationship with our federal 12 partners around those laws that may not exist in 13 the various states around civil rights, and how 14 we begin to use those agencies to assist us in 15 investigating those types of crimes. 16 Staffing, as you heard -- well, let's go 17 back. I want to honor our staff for doing an 18 outstanding job of making sure that we were on 19 time in our cases, were superb in terms of 20 reporting out, making sure our partners were 21 pleased from HUD, and our Repace Team has done an 22 outstanding job, along with our support staff 23 who's with us. 13 1 We still have some contractual 2 obligations, and we are ahead of the curve in 3 terms of where we thought we would be, and 4 considering the fact we've had a tremendous 5 amount of shifting of staff, which is not 6 uncommon in a year of this type. 7 And we're switching over the staff, and 8 we're going to talk about -- in fact, we're that 9 close to appointing an ALJ, which we will be 10 sending a name to you very, very soon. And also, 11 we're looking at filling some other positions, as 12 you see, that are temporary positions to be 13 filled, but one person who's still working on 14 FTE's. 15 And the other -- there are several people 16 moving on to other parts of government, some 17 moving into the private sector, and also, we're 18 looking to -- we look forward to hiring some new 19 energetic folk into several positions, as I 20 indicated before. 21 The Cultural Commissions are going well. 22 The Social Status of Black Males have had several 23 events. They have some coming up in the next few 14 1 weeks, around the issue of the Barbershop 2 Initiative and back to school. We're 3 participating in also similar activities in the 4 city as well. The Women's Commission, the 5 Native-American Commission, the Latino 6 Commissions are all serving as well and have 7 events planned. 8 The Civil Rights Night tonight at Victory 9 Field, barring any rain, we'll be watching a game 10 and looking forward to those who want to attend. 11 We also are looking forward to 12 rescheduling our HUD Region V Fair Housing 13 Conference. There were -- because of scheduling 14 and recent events in the country, there were some 15 of our partners that weren't able to be able 16 to -- won't be able to attend, and we're 17 rescheduling that for the end of the year, or if 18 not, the first of next year. 19 The communications plan in terms of 20 budgeting has been approved by our Office of 21 Management and Budget for Fiscal Year '17, and 22 we're also expanding our outreach and marketing 23 to -- through Archer and through various sources, 15 1 in Recorder -- in Recorder and Minority Business 2 Magazine, continuing our branding through Radio 3 One, reaching out to various television networks 4 to do Sunday morning shows, La Voz, our Latino 5 news outlet, and the Indiana News. 1310 has been 6 outstanding. 7 We're sad to report that one of our 8 stalwarts in our community, Pastor Mike Jones, 9 has gone on. We planned to be on this week with 10 Mike, but we're going to continue his legacy and 11 the hard work he involved himself with in terms 12 of making sure we have a good product coming out 13 of the Civil Rights Commission. 14 There have been several meetings required 15 of us relative to interviews. We've been very 16 careful in how we craft that right now, given the 17 fact that we have to be clear on what the law 18 allows us to do in terms of expectations versus 19 realities in terms of the law. We're working 20 through some of those issues and challenges. 21 We're also making sure that our attorneys 22 and our people who are in our office are keeping 23 abreast of the current trends, making sure 16 1 they're getting their CLE's and CEU's and they're 2 going to conferences and being aware of what's 3 happening in the country. We have several people 4 going -- have gone and will continue to go to 5 conferences to bring back information to share 6 with the rest of us. 7 But also how our office has been asked to 8 do a lot more in terms of education, not just the 9 punitive side, so to speak, or the litigation 10 side of things, but they've been asking us to 11 come out to do intervention and education and 12 preventive activities, and I thank the team for 13 doing a lot of that and for graciously being 14 creative in how we go about sharing information 15 about the ICRC, and then constantly branding and 16 rebranding in some cases, and introducing 17 ourselves to the community at large. 18 We're looking at expanding our -- well, 19 they may not be here to talk about it -- the 20 software. We've talked to partners around the 21 state. One of the challenges we have is not 22 being able to actually obtain data on issues that 23 occur, such as discrimination practices and 17 1 issues that come about. 2 We're trying to develop a centralized 3 prerogatory of work with the State Police around 4 that issue. We are also developing contracts or 5 looking at vendors for developing the software we 6 need to make sure we have accurate reporting to 7 you and cross-referencing data in a timely 8 fashion. 9 So, we're looking -- we're very excited 10 about that. We're very close to selecting, if 11 not already selected, a vendor who will be 12 providing services around data, so there'll be a 13 lot more information hopefully from around the 14 state we'll be able to share. 15 There are cases pending on the federal 16 level. Can't talk about them, but in certain -- 17 in the southern portion of the state, there are 18 about five hate crime cases that are pending, and 19 some other cases in other parts of the state that 20 we're looking at very carefully. 21 And I think that's about it. We just -- 22 social media is still part of what we do in terms 23 of reaching out to young people. When we hear 18 1 about civil unrest and marches and sort of -- 2 many of that -- much of that information is 3 shared through the social media outlets, and 4 we're staying abreast of that through our intake 5 sources. We're monitoring where our cases are 6 coming from and trying to figure out what's the 7 best medium, what conduit should we use to market 8 our brand that much better. 9 Any questions? Yes, sir. 10 COMM. HULL: I wondered -- and maybe 11 I wasn't listening carefully enough. With 12 respect to the Web site, I know, if I'm correct, 13 that we don't seem to have the transcripts posted 14 on the Web site. Will we be continuing to do 15 that, or have we stopped doing that? 16 MR. HITE: That's a very good 17 question. I'm not sure if that's been customary, 18 if that's the procedure in the past. Have we 19 done that in the past? I'm not really sure. 20 MS. MALONE: It is, yes. 21 MR. HITE: Okay. If that would be 22 the answer, I think that we will do it, yes. We 23 haven't had an update for a while on our Web site 19 1 for a while, and at this stage we're moving to a 2 new software company and a person to actually 3 help bring on and do a lot of that work for us. 4 So, thank you for your attention. I wasn't sure 5 if that's what we've always done, but I'm in 6 favor of sharing information as much as we can. 7 Now, you have to help me as to when we -- 8 there are oftentimes questions asked about cases, 9 and we need some guidance on that as to what's 10 the -- what's the information -- considering the 11 expectation, because many of the case we have are 12 very sensitive in nature, and we often get 13 freedom of information requests for a lot of that 14 information. 15 What say you in terms of how much 16 information should we put on the Web site 17 relative to cases, and what's been your pleasure 18 in regards to that? Any thoughts? 19 CHAIRPERSON BLACKBURN: It occurs to 20 me that your trip to Washington, D.C., in part, 21 answers my concern that in our efforts here in 22 the city and the region and in the state, in 23 response to and providing leadership, perhaps, on 20 1 issues of race relations and any conflict or 2 civil unrest that might proceed from that, that 3 your being able to put the discussion of those 4 issues within a national context could not be 5 more important. 6 I think that the general public now 7 receives so much more information regarding those 8 issues from both television and social media that 9 it's important that we not be so inbred with 10 regards to our work here at the Commission on 11 those issues. 12 So, that's a long way of my saying to you, 13 I hope that you will continue to make those 14 contacts, continue any conversations, casual and 15 otherwise, that you might have with the Attorney 16 General and others whose perspective can 17 enlighten and expand your view of how you conduct 18 the business of the state here regarding civil 19 rights. 20 MR. HITE: Well, thank you for that, 21 and I'm honored and humbled to hear you say that, 22 I really am, and we need your prayer and support, 23 because I think we are charting some difficult 21 1 waters, and we have to be able to convince people 2 that this is truly what civil rights is 3 ultimately all about. 4 I understand the four corners of the 5 statute and what it does, but sometimes even in 6 my own space, in my office, I have to remind 7 people that we are beyond what we see, and it's 8 about the people's business. But you're right 9 that we have to be at the forefront of the 10 movement and be a vanguard. 11 And also, I think it's important to be at 12 the table. As one of our legislative leaders 13 once said, "If you're not at the table, you're on 14 the menu," so I think we don't want to be on the 15 menu. We want to show an example. We have a 16 relationship with people, understand what they 17 protest. 18 They are the young people who started 19 right outside our very steps here, three weeks 20 ago, and marched to the capitol -- I mean marched 21 to the center of town in terms of their disdain 22 and concern about fair rights and equal rights. 23 But we knew a lot of those young people in the 22 1 group. We knew the organizers, and they reached 2 out to several of us who have reached out to them 3 in the past couple of meetings and asked 4 permission to do certain things, which I thought 5 was really very unique. Not that they had to, 6 but they showed -- paid homage to us to let us 7 know they wanted to do it in decency and order. 8 And we had a talk with them about 9 understanding civil disobedience and civil 10 disorder. They have to understand what that 11 looks like and how to separate the wheat from the 12 chaff, that when you're having people who have an 13 agenda who's impacting your overall mission so 14 that -- it gets not understood. 15 So, those are the kinds of discussions, 16 going to your point, I'd like to continue to 17 have, with your permission. Even though the 18 state statute may not allow us to always be able 19 to have them with those parameters, but I think 20 it's important to the people that have been 21 enacting laws across the state in several 22 counties, that they let us know that this is very 23 important, to the point we just had a law 23 1 enacted, a statute enacted in West Lafayette 2 relative to LGBT community issues. There have 3 been some other additional added statutes in 4 other parts of the state that we have to look at 5 when we talk to our HR partners. 6 So, yes, it's a very, very unique time in 7 our history, but at the same time, it's very 8 exciting. I'm excited about the data, and being 9 able to talk with legislators about change with 10 real empirical data instead of just anecdotal 11 stories. 12 And I'm also looking at how we can be able 13 to identify and cris -- people in crisis in 14 neighborhoods who are suffering violence 15 throughout the state at a time when the rest of 16 the nation has not necessarily found an answer. 17 I think we have an opportunity to do just that. 18 We were very happy to have had some personal time 19 in Washington to talk about many of the 20 initiatives that we started here in Indiana. 21 And having conversations with some of my 22 colleagues, some of which, like Chief David 23 Brown, who was here last year during our national 24 1 conference we held here, Law Enforcement and 2 Prosecutors, he's the Chief of Dallas. He was 3 here last year. He had to leave. The Chief of 4 Baton Rouge, he had to leave. So, I'm saying 5 these are people who are part the group of making 6 change, but now they're in the midst of change 7 themselves, so they need our assistance as well. 8 Thank you. 9 CHAIRPERSON BLACKBURN: Thank you 10 very much. 11 Any questions of our Director? 12 (No response.) 13 CHAIRPERSON BLACKBURN: Thank you, 14 Mr. Hite. 15 MR. HITE: Thank you. 16 CHAIRPERSON BLACKBURN: In that we 17 cannot consider a vote on the decision regarding 18 Reginald Baker versus Roman Marblene, we will go 19 to the report -- I'm looking for one that won't 20 require a vote. The Assignment of New Appeals, 21 so that's Item F on the agenda. 22 There being three of us here, I'd like to 23 have Comm. Edwards to review Dana Alfreds versus 25 1 Jason D. Burks and Shalin Burks. And Comm. Hull, 2 if you would please review Jeffrey Bryant versus 3 United Hospital Services. The last two seem to 4 be as one, almost, and I'll review that. 5 MS. MALONE: For the last two -- 6 CHAIRPERSON BLACKBURN: Yes. 7 MS. MALONE: -- of Item F 1? 8 CHAIRPERSON BLACKBURN: Yes. 9 MS. MALONE: Rashan Jones? 10 CHAIRPERSON BLACKBURN: Rashan Jones 11 versus Indiana Marion County Building Authority 12 and Terrence Rozzell versus Indiana Marion County 13 Building Authority. 14 If you will take note on your agenda of 15 the rest of the items to be considered, and if 16 those can then be put on next month's agenda, 17 please, we will look forward to considering them 18 at that time. 19 And there being no one here from the 20 public to comment at this time, I would call 21 attention to your Announcements, L, and 22 August 26th being the date of our next meeting, 23 try your best to be here. In the meantime, I am 26 1 available and the Commissioners are available 2 should you need to reach us for any reason. 3 And before we leave, I want to ask 4 Mr. Hite how his pitching arm feels. 5 (Laughter.) 6 MR. HITE: Well, Madam Chair, I can 7 tell you that I've been throwing for a long time 8 now. I've been told that I'm going to retire the 9 closer today. I'm going to have a young pitching 10 arm out there. I've got a relief pitcher coming 11 in for me this afternoon, a young person with a 12 young arm, because I've seen the videos on 13 YouTube and I've seen people from all walks of 14 life who can't seem to get the pitch over the 15 mound. 16 So, they've relieved me from that duty 17 today and said they've got a young person who is 18 dying and eager to prove that they can get the 19 ball across the mound, so we have a young person 20 who we want to honor, and they're going to 21 surprise him when he gets there today. He'll get 22 a chance to do something that will hopefully be 23 as inspiring for them as it is for us to watch, 27 1 watch the young person throw the ball. 2 CHAIRPERSON BLACKBURN: Great. 3 With that announcement -- 4 MR. HITE: We're there in spirit. 5 So, I will not make the YouTube follies this time 6 around. 7 COMM. EDWARDS: Chicken. 8 (Laughter.) 9 MR. HITE: I represent that 10 statement. 11 CHAIRPERSON BLACKBURN: Yes. 12 MS. MALONE: And I'd just like to 13 somewhat add to the -- what we are doing at the 14 agency is that we're -- we basically have 15 fulfilled the contract, the EEOC contract as 16 well, and we're working cases for the next fiscal 17 year. So, although those aren't due until 18 September, we have completed the obligations 19 related to that contract as well. 20 On August 12th, I'm conducting an 21 inservice training for our investigators and most 22 of -- and the attorney staff on what is a 23 difficult legal subject for us to kind of wrap 28 1 our heads around, and doing an analysis and 2 investigation and findings as they relate to 3 employment discrimination law. I'm doing a 4 seminar on basically similarly situated employees 5 in the workplace and that analysis. 6 There's been changes relative to that, and 7 important changes, legal changes, that have 8 occurred in the Seventh Circuit, and I came 9 across this in examining the notice of findings 10 that you may sign -- that I sign. 11 I noticed that there was some question, 12 and it's also a question that came up at our last 13 inservice training relative to that particular 14 issue, because it's -- you're trying to compare, 15 in comparing people to people, supervisors to 16 supervisors, work situations, work rules to each 17 other. And so, hence, we need to, you know, kind 18 of tighten our belts a little bit and get a 19 better understanding and discussion. 20 If you care to attend, we could probably 21 ask you, you know, if you would like to listen 22 in, that we could do it by conference call and we 23 can provide -- I propose to have a handout for 29 1 that as well, so -- if that would assist you in 2 your deliberations relative the notice of 3 findings that you review on appeal. 4 CHAIRPERSON BLACKBURN: Great. 5 MS. MALONE: That's it. 6 CHAIRPERSON BLACKBURN: Thank you. 7 MR. HITE: One more point of order 8 for information sharing, Madam Chair. We're 9 looking to do something -- I've gotten some 10 requests of the community to understand what we 11 do at Civil Rights, but also people looking to 12 volunteer, and I just want to pick your brains 13 collectively around that idea of how we develop a 14 volunteer group of people who are kind of like 15 civil rights advocates. They can go out in the 16 community. 17 And a lot of the understanding that people 18 have about fairness is not really explained 19 properly. What we're looking to do is remain 20 proactive, before things get to the level that it 21 becomes disobedience. A civil right's one thing, 22 but it's another thing when people act out on 23 those things. As one of our pastors said at one 30 1 of the IBE meetings, he said he's angry and he's 2 frustrated, and he's very angry, very frustrated, 3 but the Good Word says to sin not. 4 So, the idea of giving people hope and the 5 idea of explaining to them what civil rights laws 6 are is something we want to do. So, we're 7 looking at a cadre of opportunities for people to 8 come on board with us, so any thoughts around the 9 idea of developing that volunteer core of folk 10 who want to be part of the civil rights movement 11 will be helpful to us. 12 CHAIRPERSON BLACKBURN: Well, I 13 certainly have an opinion about that, and an 14 idea, too. I've worked with volunteers in so 15 many activities and had to remind myself, as I 16 now question you, to make sure that you not 17 involve volunteers unless you have a solid plan 18 as to how they can be really helpful. 19 MR. HITE: I agree. 20 CHAIRPERSON BLACKBURN: And also, as 21 I heard you make some reference, have a plan to 22 train them so that they can be really helpful. 23 Once they become a part of you, they represent 31 1 you to a certain extent. So, that -- with that 2 cautionary note, I say, the more the merry people 3 who are pushing the agenda of the Civil Rights 4 Commission, the better. 5 MR. HITE: I appreciate that, and I 6 think the young people were getting 7 misinformation, and they're looking for guidance, 8 they're looking for direction, and I'd like to be 9 able to offer that as an opportunity for them to 10 listen and hear and be part of a grander scheme 11 of things. 12 CHAIRPERSON BLACKBURN: Great. 13 Any other announcements? 14 (No response.) 15 CHAIRPERSON BLACKBURN: Hearing none, 16 the Indiana Civil Rights Commission meeting is 17 adjourned. 18 MS. MALONE: Thank you. 19 MR. HITE: Thank you. 20 - - - Thereupon, the proceedings of 21 July 29, 2016 were concluded at 1:44 o'clock p.m. 22 - - - 23 32 1 CERTIFICATE 2 I, Lindy L. Meyer, Jr., the undersigned 3 Court Reporter and Notary Public residing in the 4 City of Shelbyville, Shelby County, Indiana, do 5 hereby certify that the foregoing is a true and 6 correct transcript of the proceedings taken by me 7 on Friday, July 29, 2016 in this matter and 8 transcribed by me. 9 10 _________________________ 11 Lindy L. Meyer, Jr., 12 Notary Public in and 13 for the State of Indiana. 14 15 My Commission expires October 27, 2016. 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23