2026-10-01 - Human Rights Commission
Summary
- No quorum: The commission's Executive Director announced that, because of unexpected absences, there was no quorum and no meeting would be held.
- Chair's resignation: He announced that the commission's chair, a member since 2020, had resigned, and thanked her for volunteering her time. Several members offered brief farewell remarks praising her dedication and thoughtfulness.
- Leadership going forward: The vice chair will serve as acting chair until the new year, when the commission will vote on a new chair and hold officer elections.
Sources
Video
Transcript
This is an automatic speech-to-text transcript; names and numbers may be misheard.
Transcript
12:06Good evening. Steve Morabito here, Executive Director of the Human Rights Commission.
12:12Just wanted to say, just due to unexpected absences, we do not have a quorum at tonight's Human Rights Commission meeting.
12:19But while we're at it, I just wanted to inform viewers that our chair, Shaima Hosseini, has resigned.
12:30And I just want to wish her the very best.
12:34She has served the Human Rights Commission since 2020.
12:39And on behalf of the city, we thank you. This is a position where you volunteer your time freely.
12:47So anyone who volunteers on any city board, it's really an asset to the city because you're giving up your time to give back to the city.
12:58So I thank you. We will not be having a meeting today, but everyone's going to have a chance to say something about her departure from the Human Rights Commission.
13:14Thank you, Steve. I just want to wish Shaima the best and good luck in the future and thank her for all the service that she did here.
13:22It was great work and we wish her well.
13:29Thank you, Steve. This is her vision, Baptista. I would like to say a good bye to Shaima.
13:39She was very good. And then she put a lot of time, made a lot of sacrifice to come here often.
13:48She doesn't drive. She has to take the bus, making a lot of sacrifices to hold those meetings.
13:53And then I really wish her the best and then success and life. Thank you.
14:04I just want to say thanks, Shaima, if you're watching this at all.
14:09She brought passion and a thoughtfulness to the work that's necessary that we could all aspire to.
14:16It's not easy work and she had a lot of difficult times over the years.
14:22So I think that speaks to who she was as a person who what she brought to the work and what she takes forward with her in accomplishing whatever's left.
14:36Thank you. So with that said, going forward, Herbie Baptiste,
14:44who is the vice chair of the commission or commission, will be the acting chair until the new year.
14:52And then the commission will vote on its new chair and there will be office elections then.
14:58Until then, we'll see you at next meeting.