DRAFT

MINUTES

COMMITTEE ON MINORITY AFFAIRS

AUGUST 12, 1997

12 NOON

PRESENT: Chair: Clinton I. Young, Jr. Members: Lois Bronz,

Bob Darcy, Legislator Andrea Stewart-Cousins,

Staff: Lynne Creighton, Secretary, Dan Rodriguez

Dr. Rose Cooper, Dr. Joseph Hankin Westchester

Hispanic Law Enforcement Association: Servando

Rodriguez, Harry Pino

The meeting was called to order at 12:15pm by Mr. Young.

The minutes of July 22 were moved by Mr. Darcy, seconded by Mrs. Bronz, and passed by a vote of 3-0.

Mr. Young introduced Dr. Hankin, President of Westchester Community College, who stated that while scanning the Website for the Board of Legislators he found the minutes of the Committee on Minority Affairs of October 29, 1996. While reviewing the minutes he discovered several factual errors and mis-statements by Dr. Maria Munoz-Kantha, which prompted him to request a meeting with Minority Affairs to correct some of Dr. Munoz-Kantha’s statements and to answer any questions the committee might have.

Dr. Hankin said the college has been committed to Affirmative Action for 25 years and that he personally wrote the plan. He further stated that in comparison to all the community colleges in New York state Westchester Community College is #1 or #2 in terms of the percentage of persons of color who hold professional jobs.

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Dr. Hankin also stated that a survey had been done of the agencies in Westchester County and that the college is in the top 5 of the agencies that the County supports.

Dr. Hankin said that he had come prepared with numbers and statistics and Mr. Young asked him to present the statistics that he thought were most relevant. After this information was presented Mr. Young asked for a copy of the statistics, which Dr. Hankin said he would leave with the committee.

Mrs. Bronz asked about the process of recruitment of staff. Dr. Hankin replied that they advertise in the newspapers and also have a list of sources to reach specific groups.

After further discussion on this topic Mr. Young thanked Dr. Hankin and his staff and wanted it noted for the record that Dr. Hankin

initiated this meeting.

The second half of the meeting was regarding an anti-bias incident that took place on July 4 in a Dobbs Ferry park. Mr. Young turned the meeting over to Mr. Harry Pino, President of the Westchester Hispanic Law Enforcement Association, Inc., who explained the history of the organization, which is comprised of Hispanic law enforcement officers that work within the county.

The association is a fraternal organization that seeks to foster better working relationships between its members and the communities in which they serve.

Mr. Rodriguez gave a summary of the July 4 incident and a question and answer period followed.

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Mr. Young briefed the association on the committee’s policy, which is to look into any incident that happens in Westchester County that pertains to minorities, and monitors the County on the hiring of minority and women-owned businesses.

After discussion was ended on this issue, Mr. Young addressed the fact that the County Attorney had still not responded to his memos, which expressed the committee’s concern that the proposed legislation on minority and women-owned businesses had not been forthcoming, although the committee was supposed to receive the information by mid-July.

Mrs. Bronz suggested setting up another meeting with the County Attorney.

Mr. Young said that there will not be a committee meeting next week.

The meeting was adjourned on motion of Mr. Darcy, seconded by Mrs. Bronz, passed by a vote of 3-0 at 1:05pm.