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Home My WebLink About2015-01-13 CorrespondenceIII Aib CITY OF IOWA CITY 410 East Washington Street Iowa City, Iowa 52240-1826 (3 19) 356-5000 (3 19) 356-5009 FAX www.icgov.org LATE HANDOUTS Information submitted between distribution of packet on Thursday and close of business on Monday. Info Packet of 1/8 January 13, Work Session — Racial Equity & Diversity Issues See additional correspondence Marian Karr From: Annie Tucker <annie.h.tucker@gmail.com> Sent: Tuesday, January 13, 2015 1:14 PM To: Council Subject: Equity issues in IC: In preparation for Jan. 13 work session and ongoing work. This correspondence will become a public record. To: The Members of the Iowa City City Council RE: Equity Issues From: Annie Tucker, citizen January 13, 2015 I commend you for scheduling a work session that includes a discussion on diversity and equity issues in the City and for providing time for community input. These are among the most important and urgent issues in our country and in our community. I regret that I will not be able to attend in person as I am meeting with our board today from 4-6 pm in North Liberty. I am instead writing to you. For the record, I am also a member of the Coalition for Racial Justice, and support the CRJ and community members who will be present tonight. I urge the Council to implement the proposals of the Equity Report 2013. I also support the Council implementing the actions proposed by Councilors Kingsley Botchway and Jim Throgmorton. Further, I urge the Council to implement a quarterly reporting system whereby the City Council oversees the progress and is informed of or deals with any problems in a timely way. I think the most important issues addressed by the Equity Report and the Councilors are: Recognition that Iowa City has racial inequities and disparities. This should be a public, community- wide ongoing conversation. Awareness: City staff and officials and the community need to understand diversity and equity issues and have regular and ongoing cultural competency and equity training. Building relationships across differences and including diverse needs and concerns into discussion and decisions: All.members of the community need to be heard by our public officials, and their perspectives integrated into Council and Commission decisions. Regular meetings in different locations, as proposed by Mr. Throgmorton, would be a start. Policy and procedural changes: As indicated in the Report Accountability: For City staff. The Equity Report states: Over the next few years the City will be learning, it will need to evaluate what works well and what may need to be changed or modified to better correct a disparity. The City will need to evaluate whether policies or practices including daily operations inadvertently affect certain populations more than others and if so what the City can do to correct the unintended result and address the institutional and structural barriers to achieving equity. It should be noted that systemic change takes time. The Equity Report 2014 was presented to the Council on March 7, 2013, nearly two years ago. I recognize there have been measurable action steps taken, but there is still much to do: We do not have the luxury of time regarding these issues. If we further delay or deny, the problems will get worse: for individuals, for children and families, for neighborhoods, for businesses and the entire community. We are a community of smart, innovative and compassionate people, in every neighborhood. We are need to be better than a community that condones or allows the disparities and inequities documented by the Report. We need to learn from each other to make effective change. Together, as a community of the whole, we can successfully deal with these problems. What will happen on your watch as councilors? Thank you. Annie Tucker 1425 Oaklawn Ave. Iowa City, IA 52245 Marian Karr From: Circe Stumbo <circe@westwinded.com> Sent: Tuesday, January 13, 2015 12:28 PM To: Council Subject: Actions toward racial equity City Council Members: I am writing on behalf of the Coalition for Racial Justice to thank the City Council for convening the special work session on Racial Equity and Diversity tonight and to urge you to take action in the six areas recommended by Councilmember Botchway in his December 1, 2014, memo to the Council: 1. Publicly acknowledge we have racial inequities and disparities in our city and have strategic planning session to develop actions the city council can take to eliminate or minimize these issues 2. Add public oversight or inclusion in the Diversity Task Force 3. Use Seattle Racial Equity Toolkit or modified racial equity toolkit in budget decisions & Council actions 4. Develop different ways to engage and incorporate the minority community 5. Work with other governmental bodies on racial equity (i.e. the County) 6. Follow through with overall action plan and the action plan for police department to reduce racial/ethnic disparity The Coalition for Racial Justice and the Black Voices Project have identified policing, housing, schooling, and jobs as priority issues for racial equity in Iowa City. We encourage you to specifically consider these issues as you take the actions listed above. Further, we want to highlight two specific actions within this list that the Council is especially well-positioned to do: Identify key indicators in each of these priority areas and examine progress on indicator data at least quarterly. Invest the necessary funds to fully implement the six actions, such as investments in ongoing cultural competency training and coaching. We are looking for the City Council to demonstrate a serious and ongoing commitment to addressing racial inequities—and to support your staff as they work on this. We will do our part to keep up public engagement in the issue and invite you to partner with us to increase your engagement with people of color in Iowa City. Thank you again for recognizing the need for public dialogue on racial equity and diversity—we hope you will take the next step to move to action! Sincerely, Circe Stumbo on behalf of the Coalition for Racial Justice ZAXQ- CA6qeq '5Z?_q-(4 - M D t -t-Aol A A Cl/ICA - VN -C> Eosl ---------- VI GI av� e,rv.aq CL To G F- MEW A-0 eJ T) -f �T ciq V'-l��.s� -e. c, ME c, F T4 LL - 4b I'M � T\ -,O " Cr� C-,, --crfv� t A-0 eJ T) -f �T ciq V'-l��.s� -e. c, ME c, F T4 LL - 4b I'M � T\ -,O " Cr� C-,,