Commissioners Present:

First District: Howard Sapper

Second District: Nichole Warwick (Vice Chair)

Third District: Katrina Phillips (Chair), Liz Cruz Reyes (Officer-at-Large)

Fourth District: Irmina Benson, Cecilia Sofranko

Fifth District: Nick Thayer, Lyndsey Burcina, Susan Hirsch

Commissioners Absent:

First District: Maria Barakat (Leave of Absence), Daniel H. Sohn

Meeting held virtually and in person.  

I. Call To Order – Mission Statement – Roll Call – Phillips

Meeting called to order by Chair Phillips at 5:35PM. Commissioner Sapper read the mission statement. Roll call taken by Staff Support.

II. Consent Items– Phillips

1. Approval of the April 22, 2025 meeting minutes.

Item 3: The Commission also discussed the possibility of putting together some sort of human rights fair/conference/big event to bring together everyone in California interested in human rights, particular other governmental bodies like CHR.  Motion to approve the April 22, 2025 with additional comment.

No Public Comment

Motion: Commissioner Sapper                       Ayes: 9             Noes: 0

Second: Commissioner Cruz Reyes                 Absent: 2         Abstained: 1

Commissioner Barakat (Leave of Absence) and Sohn were absent. Chair Phillips abstained as Chair. Motion passed.

III. Openings and appointments– Phillips

1. Chair Phillips announced opening two (2) in the Second District, one (1) in the Third District, and one (1) in the Fourth District.

IV. Public Comment on Non-Agendized Items – Phillips

No Public Comments.

V. Officer Reports and Administrative Updates

Officers and Staff to discuss administrative-related matters including, but not limited to, field trip ideas and speaker coordination.

1. Chair Phillips reminded everyone to submit all reimbursements by June 6^th because the fiscal year ends June 30, 2025.
2. Chair Phillips invited everyone to attend the BOS meeting to accept the Pride Resolution on June 3, 2025 at 1:30pm.
3. Chair Phillips invited Sonoma County Pride on May 31, 2025 from 9am-4pm. Commissioner Thayer volunteered.
4. Tabling at RioFest on Saturday, June 21, 2025 from 12-6pm. Commissioner Hirsch, Chair Phillips and Commissioner Cruz Reyes volunteered to help.

VI. Ad Hoc Committee and Project Committee Updates

1. Sonoma County Human Rights Visibility Project 2.0 selected Commissioner Sohn as Chair. They are conversing on how to present the community and how the reporting will look like. They are researching and comparing this project to other counties.
2. Housing and Homelessness had concerns with Congress passing legislative that will hurt the Homeless population. Chair Phillips attended the Unhoused & Unheard Event that the Commission on the Status of Women hosted and were able to network with organizations in Sonoma County to better help the community.
3. Disability Justice are in contact with a mass block in Mendocino and with one in Oakland about distribution. This ad hoc will look at restructuring for the next fiscal year. Commissioner Sapper has volunteer to help.
4. Racial Equity and Social Justice Framework has done research to create an informational document. They might need more support to create the document but will try to present something for the commission to review. They will have unused funds.
5. Adult Prom created a flyer for the Pink Pony Prom on June 22 at 6pm. The ad hoc is looking for performers, drag queens, and seeking for decorations. They will have food trucks there. They were able to secure them by paying the $100-$200 so the first few people will get free food. Sonoma County Pride will be paying for the food. Space capacity is for 291 so they are hoping to have that many people show up.
6. Youth Commission on Human Rights attended a round table with Congressman Huffman at Santa Rosa Junior College and talked about homophobia that is going around at their high schools, the transphobia and the stigma. The Youth Commissioners had their last meeting and were given stoles. They are planning a trip to Alcatraz as an end of the year fieldtrip. Recruitment started for next cohort, and they have 23 applicants. 50% of the applicants are from Maria Carrillo High School.

VII. Regular Calendar

1. Nominations for Officers

Chair Phillips led the nominations for officers for the fiscal year 2025-2026. Nominations were taken.

Chair: Commissioner Sapper nominated Commissioner Phillips for Chair; Phillips accepted.

Vice Chair: Commissioner Thayer nominated Commissioner Warwick; Warwick accepted.

Officer-At-Large: Commissioner Sofranko nominated Commissioner Cruz Reyes; Cruz Reyes accepted.

Officer-At-Large: Commissioner Cruz Reyes nominated Commissioner Sofranko; Sofranko accepted.

Commissioners who got nominated provided acceptance speeches. Elections will take place next commission regular meeting. No action was taken.

2. Hot Topics

1. 1. Commissioner Thayer led the discussion about President Trump’s executive order strengthening and unleashing America’s law enforcement to pursue criminals and protect innocent civilians. There are two parts to this order: to deploy the military at home and to protect all police officers and police departments from any legal liability. The Commission brought up more concerns such as opening the door to privatizing police enforcement, the criminalization of DPI and increase violence. Commissioner Sapper, Commissioner Hirsch, Chair Phillips, Vice- Chair Warwick volunteered to draft a statement and Commissioner Benson volunteered to research for the statement. No action was taken.
   2. Chair Phillips led the discussion regarding Governor Newsom’s push to ban homeless encampments. In Sonoma County, you can see people’s belongings on the streets because people are getting arrested for being on the streets. Sonoma County Jail is getting overcrowded. The topic will be brought back during the strategic planning meeting.

 3. Re-allocate Budget

3. 1. Chair Phillips led the budget discussion. The Youth Commission will have about $1,000-$1,200 of unused funds. Racial Equity and Social Justice Framework has $2,463 of unused funds. Roughly $3,400 of unused funds. Discussion on having all $3,400 get allocated to the Adult Prom to pay for security, DJ, decorations, and food. Another discussion was to donate unused funds to a non-profit such as SOS, The Living Room, Act of Kindness, Need a Hand of Hope Sunshine Project, or Arlene Francis Center to help continue CHR mission’s. Motion to approve remaining funds of about $3,400 get leveraged to support Adult Prom with any remaining funds expeditiously donated to a non-profit or Arlene Francis Center. Motioned approved.

No Public Comment

Motion: Commissioner Warwick               Ayes: 9             Noes: 0

Second: Commissioner Cruz Reyes            Absent: 2         Abstained: 1

Commissioner Barakat (Leave of Absence) and Sohn were absent. Chair Phillips abstained as Chair. Motion passed.

4. Strategic Planning.

a. Chair Phillips led the proposals of new ad hocs and projects for fiscal year 2025-2026.

• • Collaborative Response Team Ad Hoc to respond on the about President Trump’s executive order strengthening and unleashing America’s law enforcement to pursue criminals and protect innocent civilians. This ad hoc will be hosting an event with Community leaders and Commissions from the state. Budget of $2,500.
  • Environmental Rights to advocate human right to a healthy environment, a healthy, clean, and safe environment in the community.
  • Disability Ad Hoc to support people with disabilities with a $500 budget.
  • Community Care Commission Ad Hoc to create a town hall or event with Health Services Department to do outreach and community education to bring people together and give them motivators to show up and learn about how we can be taking better care of each other, especially in the absence of government support and CDC consistency support. Budget request $750.
  • Youth Commission Educational Ad Hoc to continue their work with the youth. Budget request $7530.
  • 1–2-month Project- Universal Declaration Human Rights on Incarcerated Persons to create a workshop for 1-2 session among the incarcerated people, friends, family.
  • Visibility Project Phase 2 will be creating a monthly newsletter. The Budget is $2300
  • Leadership Matrix to identify the skill sets of each Commissioner, their circles of influence, and organizations represented. This will help learn where the caps are.

Motion to support the proposed ad hocs and projects with a total of $19,980 with general funds expenses. Motion approved.

No Public Comment

 Motion: Commissioner Warwick               Ayes: 9             Noes: 0

Second: Commissioner Sapper                  Absent: 2         Abstained: 1

Commissioner Barakat (Leave of Absence) and Sohn were absent. Chair Phillips abstained as Chair. Motion passed.

VIII. Additional Agenda Items for the Next Commission Meeting – Phillips

1. 1. Discussion to host next Commission meeting at Earthseed, 3175 Sullivan Rd Sebastopol on Saturday, June 28^th. They will move some funds from the Youth Commission to pay for EarthSeed. Motion to have the meeting at EarthSeed and use funds from the Youth Commission’s allocated funds. Motion approved.

No Public Comment

Motion: Commissioner Cruz Reyes                Ayes: 9             Noes: 0

Second: Commissioner Warwick                    Absent: 2         Abstained: 1

Commissioner Barakat (Leave of Absence) and Sohn were absent. Chair Phillips abstained as Chair. Motion passed.

IX.         Adjournment

The meeting adjourned at 8:05 p.m.