Title
Recognizing Luz María Frías for her service to the citizens of Saint Paul as the first Director of the Department of Human Rights and Equal Economic Opportunity.
Body
WHEREAS, Luz María Frías has served for over three years as the first Director of the Department of Human Rights and Equal Economic Opportunity, and
WHEREAS, Ms. Frías is leaving HREEO to serve the Twin Cities community as the Minneapolis Foundation’s Vice President of Community Philanthropy, and
WHEREAS, Ms. Frías turned the vision of a combined Human Rights and procurement department into a very efficient, functioning, and fully integrated department of the City of Saint Paul, and
WHEREAS, under Ms. Frías’ leadership, the City of Saint Paul has achieved: 1) the shortest investigation time period in the state for human rights complaints and a record dollar amount for settlements in 2011; 2) the awarding in 2011 of over $43 million dollars in city contracts to Minority-Owned, Woman-Owned and Small Business Enterprises, as compared to less than $5 million in 2008; 3) the country’s largest database of certified HUD Section 3 businesses and residents; 4) the largest database of Minority-Owned, Woman-Owned and Small Business enterprises in Minnesota; 5) the creation of the EMS Academy which has provided a nationally recognized credential for low-income youth thereby opening doors to serving as firefighters, paramedics, and EMTs; 6) establishing a contract compliance unit which protects the rights of workers on city construction projects to receive prevailing wages;7) established the Road to Success initiative which provides unemployed Saint Paul residents from diverse communities with a Class B Commercial Driver’s License and positions them to compete for public and private sector employment; and 8) led the City of Saint Paul’s 2010 Census Task Force which achieved record participation in the 2010 census; and
WHEREAS, Ms. Frías has also served the community through her service on the boa...
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