HomeMy WebLinkAboutTRC 2022-09-01 transcript[00:00:00] [MUSIC] So Stefanie, do you wanna do roll call? Thank you very much.
It's going on.
Commissioner Ali?
[OVERLAPPING] Present.
Er, Commissioner Dillard?
Here.
Um, Commissioner Gathua?
Yes.
Commissioner Johnson?
Here.
[00:00:30] Commissioner Harris?
Here.
Uh, Commissioner Nobiss?
[inaudible 00:00:33].
Uh, Commissioner Rivera?
Here.
And Commissioner Traore.
Here.
Thank you.
Okay. Um, so we'll go with the reading of the land acknowledgment and I'll go ahead
and just read it. Um, it says, "We meet today in the community of Iowa Cit- City,
which now occupies the homelands of Native American nations to whom we owe our
commitment and dedication. [00:01:00] The area of Iowa City was- was within the
homelands of Iowa, Meskwaki, and Sioux, and because history is complex and time
goes back, far back beyond memory, we also acknowledge the ancient connections
of many other indigenous peoples here. The history of broken treaties and forced
removal that dispossess indigenous peoples of their homelands was and is an act of
colonization and genocide that we cannot erase. We implore the Iowa City
community to commit to understanding and addressing these injustices as we work
[00:01:30] toward equity, restoration, and reparations." Okay, so now we'll go, um,
and approve meeting minutes from August 4th.
Rivera, so moved.
Do I have a second?
[inaudible 00:01:40], thank you.
Seconded.
Okay.
Then properly moved and seconded. Any discussion? Commissioner Ali?
Yes.
Commissioner Dillard?
Yes.
Commissioner Gathua?
Yes.
Commissioner Johnson?
Yes.
Commissioner Harris?
Yes.
Commissioner [00:02:00] Rivera?
Yes.
And Commissioner Traore.
Yes.
Motion passes seven, zero.
Thank you. Now, we'll move into item number six and we'll open, er, for public
comment first going online. Does anyone have public comments? Oh, I'm sorry, I
skipped number five. Um, public comment of items not on the agenda. Does anyone
have any public comment of items not on the agenda?
That would be us.
Okay. Go [00:02:30] ahead.
Yes. This is Orville Townson. I'm a citizen of Iowa City and I just wanted to share a
concern that I have with the Commission. Can you hear me?
Yes.
Yes.
Thank you.
Yes. Er, my concern is that- well, first of all, I just want to say that when the city first
decided to create the commission I was very happy, pleased, and [00:03:00] I
supported it wholeheartedly and I still do. But I find myself at this time at a point of
concern because I was recently verbally and- publicly verbally attacked by a- by a
person for no reason at all. Ordinarily, I respect a person's right for freedom of
speech. But the concern I have here is I find myself in a situation where this
individual has [00:03:30] been appointed by the city to your commission. And I- I
don't think that- I think that when an indi- individual applies for a city appointment if
they have it, they're also indicating that they're willing to do everything they can to
improve conditions in the city, to respect all citizens, and abide by all laws and rules.
And anytime anyone just out of the blue begins [00:04:00] to attack other citizens,
then I- I have concerns about that person being a part of- of a commission. You have
an individual on your commission that has, I feel for no reason at all, pointed me
out, and wronged me and, er, I don't think that person should be on the commission
or anything-
Or chairing.
Or chair- chairing a commission. If the person wan- wants to be a member, that's
one thing. [00:04:30] But I don't think that person definitely should be chairing or
representing the commission. So I ask you to give my concerns some consideration
and hopefully decide whether or not you as members of a commission who is
representing a commit- the community, wish to have a person chairing your
commission that is [00:05:00] verbally attacking members of the community. So I- I
don't know if you were aware of this, but I want to make sure you are because I want
to bring it to your attention at this time.
And Amel also attacked members of the commission, which is also a no no. Um, so
you to- need to take a look at that.
Thank you very much. Is there anyone else, um, on- on [00:05:30] Zoom in the
public that'd like to talk about something that's not on our, um, meeting notes?
Okay, we'll move to anyone in person.
Okay. Er, there's a microphone right here.
I don't understand the content of any of this. I feel maybe she was frustrated with
the lack of concern for keeping the group moving in a positive [00:06:00] way. I
know that the mayor himself was the only one that tried to vote Amel off the
commission. Er, I think Amel has a excellent content of character. I think if she said
something that was off-color, it might have been because she was frustrated with
the group not gaining traction and that's what we need to do as a community is we
need to stand up [00:06:30] and look out for each other civil rights. Because if one
person loses their civil rights, everybody does. Thank you.
Thank you. Anyone else in the public that'd like to make comments? All right, we'll
move on to item number six and again, open up to public comment before we go
into the draft oppose- proposals. So anyone online? Anyone in public that wants to
talk about number six? Now I'll move it onto [00:07:00] our commission and I, um, I
assume we're gonna he- hear from you all first.
Is there any way we could open public comment after they've presented also? Is that
okay?
Yeah.
Perfect. Um, I'm trying to get into the meeting to share something.
The fastest way is probably to go to the City of Iowa City web page because I don't
have a direct link myself and just click the link for the first TRC meeting. Join
[00:07:30] the Zoom and then I can promote you.
Okay. I- I think I just clicked on the wrong one. [BACKGROUND] Right, because today
is the first day for the proposal.
I tried calling you.
It's right.
What time?
2:00 or 1:00.
It makes you register so then you're gonna have to get that email.
Got it.
After we talked?
Uh-huh.
[00:08:00] I also can't get on but maybe they will do so. [NOISE]
Okay, thanks.
I just will, um, share my screen when we get chance.
Do you- do you want to get near the mic when you're ready to speak?
Yeah.
And also maybe change your name.
Thank you. All right.
It should work.
[00:08:30] To your legal name [inaudible 00:08:31]
Yeah. You know. The same phone number that I- I talked to you the other night. It
wouldn't be a meeting without a technical issue [LAUGHTER] arising. Um, um,
apologies.
No, that's exactly beautiful. [NOISE]
[00:09:00] Um, change the view.
There we go. Okay. Great. Yes. Thank you. Um, V Fixmer-Oraiz with, er, Astig
Planning, and I'm here with a group of folks. We will just go through this presentation
and then talk through any parts [00:09:30] of the proposal, um, that you would like
to talk through. Um, so just to give you a quick overview, I do wanna go over our
team because we did just kinda delineate a little bit further who is actually on our
team. Um, and then we are gonna go through some of the proposal sections and
then definitely spend some time on the modifications and changes that we've made
since the last, er, joint session meeting and then also since we've had meetings
with, um, commissioners. Then we do have a timeline that we'll review and then, of
course, a budget, um, which [00:10:00] sho- should have been sent in an Excel
spreadsheet so you should be able to see all the pages, but let- let us know if not.
Um, so I'll let, er, basically everybody just introduce themselves. So I can introduce
like healing partners. [LAUGHTER] Obviously, I'm there, V Fixmer-Oraiz.
Angie Jordan with Banjo Knits Empowerment.
Annie Tucker with Mediation Services of Eastern Iowa.
Kearns & West, you're on.
[00:10:30] I don't believe that [inaudible 00:10:39].
They aren't on. Okay. So [OVERLAPPING] I thought I saw Larry as well.
Yeah.
Um, [inaudible 00:10:45] right now?
[00:11:00] So yeah, Larry, if you wanted to just go through your team because I
don't think everybody has met everybody.
Okay. Can, er, everybody hear me? Yes.
[LAUGHTER] I sound like a frog, so I'll keep it brief. Uh, but this is Larry Schooler
from Kearns & West and Hanna Khalil and Jason Gershowitz are a part of our team.
Uh, I'll leave it there. Thanks. [00:11:30] Coming from Thi- Think Peace, was there
somebody on?
Okay. Well, we have, um, Dave Ragland, Eduardo Gonzalez, and then they've also
added Stephanie Rose Spaulding. Um, I think it's Doctor Stephanie Rose Spaulding,
actually. I'm very excited about their team and I'm sure they'll expound more as we
kind of move along. [LAUGHTER] And then of course we have-
[00:12:00] We have the native partners thanks to Sikowis introducing us to them.
And on the left, we have T Medina, Terry Medina. He lives out in Nebraska, I believe.
I- I- we've just met a couple of times by Zoom and we're planning a meeting
together out in- in September out west, so we'll know more. But he just retired from
adult corrections and is doing a lot- has always done a lot of group work [00:12:30]
and is being sought out to do group work, um, on his own outside of that role. And,
um, then Manape Lumiere, he's done a lot of different kinds of healing work and he
shared that with us. And, um, he started our Zoom meeting with a prayer, which
was, um, which was powerful. And, um, when he heard about what [00:13:00] we
were wanting to do is provide circles but with right relationship, in the course of that
conversation he said that we should- we should create together circles, Iowa circles,
for all Iowans. So he's the one who said that. On the right is Danielle Wanatee, she's
a Meskwaki and I want to admit at this point that I didn't have my notes to look and
see what tribes [00:13:30] Manape and T are from and representing, so that's on
me. But anyway, Danielle, in the course of our conversation, said, "You know my
father passed a couple of years ago and he was a school teacher and what was
important to him was people coming together and connecting." And so she felt like
this work is something that he would have been for and she's looking for- [NOISE]
excuse me, forward to being part of [00:14:00] it. So we're looking forward to
continue building our work with them and learning from them.
Um, San- Terrence is Santee and- uh, from the Santee Nation, um, so he's, uh, I
believe Lakota or Dakota. Manape is, um, from the [inaudible 00:14:21] Nation and
the, um, Winnebago Nation.
Thank you, Sikowis.
Thank you, Commissioner Nobiss. [00:14:30] Thank you so much. Um, yes, just
starting to get our relationships, um, together so I appreciate that and really
appreciate Commissioner Nobiss in co- in connecting us. The proposal sections, as
you can kind of see, I'm, uh, just gonna go over in a like kind of high level, obviously,
just gives you a little bit about who our teams are. We added, um, expectations of
the city and commissioners, which we'll go into a little bit more detail in terms of
some of the changes. But that was based on, um, essentially conversations
[00:15:00] that, uh, we've had obviously with commissioners but also with, uh, with
city staff and, um, trying to put together some expectations there. And it's not
necessarily expectations of commissioners, it's more of just some description of role,
I think. Um, then we go a bit into our scope, how it's a phased approach, um, and
then the budget there. So the changes and modifications. So a lot of the bare bones
are here, but we want to point out some of those changes and modifications.
[00:15:30] So one thing that we did really here was the more equitable percentage
distribution amongst the entire group. So at one point, there was concern that
Kearns & West had a very high percentage and so they have worked very hard
internally, um, to change that, to change some of the structure for their, you know,
how much they're charging but also to look at how can they redistribute who is, um,
doing what when and for how many hours. And then we've also [00:16:00] added,
um, some more time for community members, um, which is- we'll go into that for
the local groups and facilitators. Um, but we feel like that was a very- it- it was a lot
of feedback that we got not only from Council and from others commissioners, uh,
but it was something that we were sort of struggling with internally as well, so it was
actually a great opportunity for our team to really have frank conversations.
Did you wanna say anything else about that?
I just- [00:16:30] just wanted to take a moment and kind of just highlight that, the
fact that, uh, we had to do some of our own truth-telling and, um, reconciliation
within the team before we've even gotten a chance to get the second proposal to
you. Um, I think that's a big deal and that's because the TRC exists. So I just wanted
to just kind of underline that, uh, that the process that you all are- are charged with,
it's already been happening and I know you all know that but I just wanted to add
that into this space.
[00:17:00] So the local groups and facilitators, this is something that we've been
talking about since Day 1, since we've come together. And it's something that we
heard from Council and so it was really just more of like where can we pull this out
so that it's front and center? And so we did just say, look, we need a $10,000
community fund for any group, individual, professional in our community that wants
to get a part of this. We just need to have a fund to pay people because we're not
the only people [00:17:30] and we know this. We've been talking about this, but we
wanted to show that's where the money is. Is 10,000 enough? We have no idea. We
just thought we would start here, um, if it's too much, it moves on to the next thing
but we need to ho- have a placeholder for that and we understand how, you know,
how important that is for budgets and, um, what that means. Think Peace already
had a local facilitator and they've had it the entire time for 4,400, it's always been in
there. That is specifically for their- what they're looking at with the truth-telling. So
[00:18:00] we wanted to honor that and just say in addition to. Yeah. Uh, the city
position and city expectations. Actually, I will turn this over to my colleagues
because they worked very closely with the city to- to move this through.
Um, why don't you start?
Yeah, it's really exciting to have these conversations with the city because, um, they
have a process, right? In hiring and developing positions and, uh, that process, it- it-
it has its own integrity and its fairness and all the [00:18:30] things that- that make
it into what is gonna be a legitimate position. So we came with, hey, this is a job
description, hey, these are the things, this is what you should pay them. Hey, hey,
hey. Um, and so having this conversation with the city, being able to sort of
restructure that into instead of saying this is the position you guys should create,
breaking it down saying this is the expectations that we would have of the city if
they created a position. They wanna make sure, as I understand it, take those
expectations and run it through their process, [00:19:00] not just, uh, posting the job
but also making sure that all the departments in the city, um, are checked. The
communication department the- the- you know, all the different things are- the
resources that are already there, they go through their process so that they can
create something. And just a reminder about this position, what was important to us
is that it is connected to the city so that, uh, again it kind of helps to legitimize but it
also it's- it's a commitment and an investment from the city that's very, very
[00:19:30] explicit. Uh, so I wanna just pause there.
That's the coordinator position, by the way.
Yeah. So, yeah, sorry. Thank you. We took that out of the- the language and put it
into city expectations but it still lives. Um, it's just not a coordinator position that
we're thrusting upon the city, it's more, uh, the expectations that we would have of
the city to support this proposal.
And just to underscore it, what they told us was this is normal for them with some-
some external [00:20:00] entity that's coming to them with a proposal that it be a
set of expectations. So this is just their normal for dealing with that, so we work
within that framework.
I'll just add onto that that, um, this coordinator position, we feel is incredibly
important. Uh, it would be the glue of- for- for all of the groups and also for the
commission members. This would be the person like hosting all the meetings and
helping with facilitation. We recognize- our healing partners' team recognizes that
[00:20:30] there's gonna be a lag in time and so we have actually put in here that
we would be happy to help step in in the interim on a volunteer basis, basically.
[LAUGHTER] So that is also in the proposal but, um, it's not spelled out here, so I just
thought I would say that we un- that we understand there's a lag in time that would
probably happen. We don't want that to happen, so. Um, adding a third phase. So
this was something that we felt from the beginning that it was not- not going to be
enough time but we were really [00:21:00] trying to honor that June 30th deadline.
And so we had those two phases and we still will honor those two phases. We just
want to have a placeholder for a third phase that says, hey, June 30th, you know, as
we're, you know, coming up on April, May, like, we'll have a sense of where things
are at and we actually have it in here for a pause and for re-evaluation. We'll be able
to say, what- what work do we have left to do? Are we ready to give final
recommendations or do we need 3, 4, 5, 6 [00:21:30] months? Um, so we have that
in there as a placeholder. We don't know what it will be, so we did not include that in
our budget. That would be just something that we would, you know, have to look at
when that time came. But we do wanna recognize that there are a lot of unknowns,
um, and that June 30th was fast approaching.
And I would also add that it was something that, um, you know, internally, we had
but also city council pointed that out pretty explicitly as well that, hey, you know,
you all did too at different times. [00:22:00] So wanting to make sure that was in
there. Um, the other thing that gets me excited about the third phase is that it- it,
you know, again, depending on how it evolves but it could be an opportunity to
onboard even more community partners, uh, that have seen the first and second
phase and maybe just aren't yet seeing what their role is but as it shapes out, uh,
creating spaces to continue to invite more community partnerships, more entities,
more individuals. And again, like V was saying, being explicit that it's a placeholder,
um, depending on how the first [00:22:30] two phases go.
And what I'd like to just underscore again is that the evaluations that happen at the
end of the phases are all of us, all of us who are involved. You all, of course, any of
the partners, like looking at what have we accomplished? What remains? And so
same with that third phase.
The, uh-
Um, the next bullet point clarity regarding TRC member roles. This was something
[00:23:00] that we heard, um, a few times that maybe there just needed to be a
little bit more clarity as to like what are some of those expectations? Would you see
that and, sort of, the city expectation and- and TRC, um, member section. And really
we just tried to call out a little bit more description and use some examples there,
but essentially what it really comes down to, and we spent a quite a bit of time
internally talking about this. That it's not necessarily, you know, this is, um, you
know, 1-10 of what you should be doing. [00:23:30] This is an invitation for you to be
as engaged as possible, knowing that what we're- you're being tasked with is- is an
incredible task. And so there may be times where you have to step up, there may be
times when you have to step back. There's going to be aspects of things that come
up that you may be- you may gravitate towards because you have a knowledge base
or you have relationships. So it's really just an invitation and an acknowledgment of
the incredible work that is ahead and ways in which you can or- or need to
[00:24:00] take care of yourself. We do talk explicitly about how modeling self-care
and radical love is something that we really would love to see happen on the TRC,
um, as it is a model for how- how we move forward. And I would add, I don't know if
he said it, but I'm just going to say it again if- if they did, um, that the TRC- again,
you guys all know this, the TRC is unlike any other city commission, so we need to
highlight that, you all brought that up, um, and in the proposal, [00:24:30] we made
sure to do that. Uh, so that that's part of our values moving forward that we like
using- continue to honor and normalize, that we need to value the self-care and that
this is- this is a very different commission than all the others.
That's good.
Um, and just wanna note just to highlight the fact that it isn't entirely BIPOC
Commission, and the- the issues that are gonna be raised, obviously, may be
harmful to commissioners, [00:25:00] and so that's, again, why we- it is an invitation
for people to engage if and when and how you can. The next aspect is clear
description of the strategic doing process, we tried to write in there, you know, what
that could look like. Um, it is a very, uh, I wanna say simple framework, but the work
is actually a really rolling up of sleeves, so we did try and identify, you know, what
that means is, you know, we're getting everybody together, we [00:25:30] invite the
community members, we invite commissioners, we invite community [LAUGHTER]
leaders, and we talk about who's in the room, what assets everybody has, and what
are some of the things that we want to be doing? What are those Pathfinder
projects? And then, um, you follow up every- every 30 days. So that's that aspect of
it. Um, and then, of course, the timeline and community involvement. So we were
asked to put a timeline together, it's a little tricky because, um, a lot of this is
unknown, but we do have [00:26:00] some benchmarks in terms of what that, um,
could look like. And especially when you look at what is Phase 1, and what is Phase
2, and what is potentially in Phase 3. So as you can see with that timeline, you know,
we- the Think Peace had started with, you know, wanting to incorporate a
community-wide healing session as like a kickoff, um, and obviously, their
educational series begins. There's a lot of aspects and I really encourage if you
haven't already to read the Think Peace, uh, proposal that was separate [00:26:30]
because they give a lot of detail in terms of what and how they conduct the truth-
telling, um, or the educational things and then also the truth-telling aspects. Uh, so
you can see also like fact-finding, strategic doing, Pathfinder, so we've tried to
encapsulate into Phase 1 everything that we think that will happen in there, but
that's a broad stroke. Um, I think that there's a lot of smaller things that are not
really necessarily showing up, and then- then Phase 2 is really digging into the truth-
telling, so that's going to be, you know, all [00:27:00] of the, um-
Public hearings.
Yeah, public hearings and things like that. The fact-finding is really going to get into
more advanced data collection. We'll start doing the healing circles, um, public
hearings, yeah, reconciliation gathering. So there is at every break, I meant to say
there's also an evaluation and presentation, um, to city council. And then Phase 3,
we just extended it six months. Um, again, a big question mark is to like, what
necessarily will be done? But I- I have a feeling that it will be a lot of the things that
you see in Phase 2, and potentially [00:27:30] some of the things you see in Phase 1.
So, um, again, uh- uh a lot there. The budget, um, so things that we really wanted to
pull apart for you was, um, thing one, that the- that Kearns and West pulled out a
fact-finding liaison. We ended up calling it a community researcher, but they do
need a- a- boots-on-the-ground person that will go and get the data that they can't,
isn't [00:28:00] necessarily widely available on the- on the interwebs. So they pulled
that out and said, this is a very smart community, I think we have a lot of passionate
people that can do this type of research. So that would be a position out- that- that
they pulled out of their own scope, and we have that listed here. Um, and then the-
that's that. Um, and then we have the 10,000 for the local groups, the 2,200, that's,
um, Think Peace, um, [00:28:30] that's that the person that they had listed. So as
you can see, the percentages are a little bit more even across the board, um, and
yeah, we've- we've tried to just show a little bit more clarity. You should have
detailed pages for each entity, um, so that you can see the rates, the amount of
time, the different types of, um, projects and- and aspects. [00:29:00] And with that,
I- I turn it over to my colleagues or over for questions.
Yeah. Or Larry, or [OVERLAPPING] Eduardo [NOISE]
would wanna add in or chime in?
[NOISE] I'm here ready to answer to any question that the colleagues will have.
[inaudible 00:29:18].
Yes. With that, [00:29:30] we conclude our presentation. [LAUGHTER] [NOISE]
Okay. Well, thank you all for taking another stab at this and, um, coming back with
an even better proposal in my opinion. Um, I- I- I love what you-all put together one
of the questions, I- I think I talked to one of you outside of this was, um, did you
mention marketing at all? Um, where that would be if, [00:30:00] um, we wanted to,
um, once we get on the ground running, do t-shirts, or, um, just have swag or things
like that, [LAUGHTER] get people on that, well, you know, pick people's interests,
um, at that time. And, um, if you- it- also social media that would be really helpful to
have one of your teammates do that.
Absolutely. I think something, um, I'm glad you bring that up. I also think too the
expectations on the city and in their city [00:30:30] departments, what they already
have going on, making sure that we really squeeze those resources, um, and- and
build off of what the gaps are, but really, uh, prioritizing and holding the city
accountable to be using their- their departments, um, for- for all those things.
[NOISE]
Um, been jotting down some ideas in terms of the outreach and visibility
component. Um, it's been repeated a lot that this is, again, a first of its kind
commission and also, uh, looking [00:31:00] to make this some type of template for
potentially other communities to use. So I think a really helpful thing and that would
be to have a sort of public dashboard or webpage associated with it. Um, I do have a
platform in mind specifically in terms of, uh, how this can all be architected, be
publicly viewable, and also allow for input, um, from others. So it's called a notion,
and essentially, you could create a webpage out of it and have, uh, dashboards,
flowcharts, things of that nature [00:31:30] that people could see actual updates on
what the Pathfinder projects are, uh, how far along, uh, we are on Pathfind-
Pathfinder projects. Could even add, uh, task lists on there so they see the tasks that
are being done, uh, at certain times. Um, provide access to the actual data that we
are analyzing and looking at if anyone wants to do any independent analysis or
even, um, uh, pitching ideas for other data points to look into. Um, [00:32:00] can
also use a platform called Typeform for including community input forms. So if
anyone sees anything that piques their interests within this dashboard or webpage
that they can, uh, reach out and say so. Um, could have pages such as calendars
that, uh, highlight all the meetings, and events, and agendas so that those are
centralized and, uh, contact info and point people for specific- uh, for specific tasks
and [00:32:30] projects. Um, also like reading and resource lists can be put there as
well so that the whole thing is documented throughout, um, and reproducible
process, but also as things change or, uh, as phases go on people actually
understand the complete flow of- of how, uh, everything came about. So whether
you were to jump in now and start paying attention, started paying attention from
the beginning or pay attention closer to the end, there's a full accounting for
everything that was done, which I think would [00:33:00] make the compilation of all
of the, uh, resources that we use, the tasks that we'll be working on, and, uh, all the
testimony be a lot easier to compile if we have a better recording of this. And if it's a
publicly viewable website, uh, that also allow it to be, you know, hosted pretty much
for good, for anyone to look at and use. It wouldn't even have to be, uh, direct city
website. I don't believe, uh, if we apply for it in the [00:33:30] correct way,
essentially, when we just have to put in a form designating, uh, what we would
wanna create, who would have access, uh, to actually update records within it, and
then also, um, information on how to, uh, how to access the platform in itself.
Stefanie.
Um, I will reach out to the City Attorney's office tomorrow to get an opinion from
them, I think they're probably the best people to answer that question.
Okay. Yeah. Sorry that was a lot at once, [00:34:00] but, yeah, I can jot that down
on, and actually, just like form or piece of paper and hand that to you so it's a little
less, uh, just a jumble of words, but that's what I have. Thanks.
Um, and kind of piggy backing off of, uh, um, what Commissioner Traore said. I think
all of those ideas are really great, um, but I also want to think about accessibility and
the different demographics that we have. Uh, like for example, my mom would have
no idea [00:34:30] how to navigate a webpage like that. Um, in this kind of goes to
the outreach portion. Um, like if we could work with, um, like for example, how does
our district has that board, that community board that says like all of these things
going on and all of that information. But like if we had a hub at, let's say, like the
Neighborhood Center and Pheasant Ridge, that is a huge Sudanese population, uh,
stuff [00:35:00] like that in Arabic and maybe like, I don't know, like I think of like a
drop a locked drop box where people could write in testimony or even say like, hey,
there is something I wanna talk about, can- you know, this is my information and,
um, that. So I wanna think about like accessibility and people who may or may not
have smartphones or access to computers, um, or the Internet as well.
[00:35:30] I did wanna add on that, I did jot a note for that, I forgot to add. Um, so
there's a newsletter platform, Substack, that we could use for free. Um, and with
that could have, uh, monthly, you know, updates on what's going on. Also, uh, phase
updates as phase is complete and, uh, each newsletter could be written in English
and also have people translate to other languages such as Spanish, French,
Portuguese, uh, Arabic, Swahili. Um, and, [00:36:00] uh, that would also allow for
that all to be publicly viewable by anyone at anytime. And then when it comes to
helping people navigate the websites and webpages, I think we could just make, uh,
resource videos that just explain how to use, uh, the actual website itself, how to use
the materials, and then add in, uh, subtitles in different languages or even have
people, um, walk through how the website works in different languages, uh, for
screen recordings and [00:36:30] have those on a YouTube channel, uh, can have
those embedded within webpages as well. And I do like the idea of having the
community hubs, uh, I think that would be helpful as could use that for each phase
or just, uh, monthly updates, have specific time set of community hubs that, uh,
going over what the commission has been doing, if anyone's interested in attending
so that there's multiple ways for anyone to be informed, whether it's showing up in-
person, uh, watching a recorded Zoom of the community hub events, [00:37:00] uh,
looking at a newsletter, looking at, uh, the actual dashboard with all the information,
and just keeps everything reproducible and, uh, available for anyone.
Just to put my facilitator hat on for just a second. The- um, I guess what we would
like from y'all, these are awesome ideas, and what we would like to know from y'all
is, for this proposal, what you would like us to change or modify. I think these are
fantastic ideas and we certainly need these ideas, [00:37:30] but I think from y'all
that's what we're looking for is direction, um, for- for moving just this proposal
forward, so that then we can get to all [LAUGHTER] of these awesome things. Just
wanna put that out there, please.
Um, so before we get away from this, um, what Amel said is true, um, we need to
make sure that everybody can access, you know, the information and things like
that. And even in the past six months or so when I had things that I was working on,
um, someone told me about a guy [00:38:00] who made flyers, uh, actual flyers, like
we can go to community hub centers, maybe a food pantry, maybe where people
would go at and you can't just, you know- because everybody who might not be able
to access Internet, they may not have smart- smart smartphones like Amel said. And
so what- when, you know, for instance, when I worked with Dream City, um, I had
actual flyers that I went around to different businesses and posted them up at
different business and it was really effective. And it was like more effective than
[00:38:30] I thought it was because it wasn't anything that was in same day like go
to this website, go login into this, go do this, go to that. It was simple, simple like,
hey, contact this and it may had email in it or it may, you know- but it wasn't, you
know. And- and then that would help people, you know, get into the more- you know,
get into the dashboard, things- things like that. But you have to be able to put
information in places that people are going to go, you know, they're gonna be. You
know, they- you know, some people might have to go to the food pantry, some
people might go all the way down [00:39:00] so a laundromat, they might go to Hy-
Vee, they might go to KCs, you need to have those things, you know, everywhere.
And so, um, I would say that Dream City, they gave me a resource where I had a
guy who would print things and print color photos and we print information and let
people know. So I think that's a good thing that Amel said, we have to make sure
that everybody can access information. And they won't have difficulties because at
times people will say, hey, Will, this so difficult to get on this website, you know, it's
too difficult [00:39:30] to contact this, so just forget about it. They have something
simple like a drop box or something, they could contact people and say, hey, I saw
this flyer at the store when I was getting groceries, I wanna know about this.
I really appreciate all the work and that, I don't know you in the room, but all of the
other folks elsewhere have put into, I'm really buffing up and adjusting, modifying.
[00:40:00] There's a, you know, I could see a lot of the revisions and also just the
intentionality in terms of I'm creating something that was very specific to the
process as it's already begun with this commission, as well as, um, kind of really
localizing it well. While maintaining a broad perspective of what truth-telling could
be. Specific to changes to the proposal, I have none and I really appreciate all of the
background info on the key players from the different umbrellas [00:40:30] and how
they'll be organizing among themselves. I really appreciate the visuals. So I think all
of this, would be very great for me to recommend to the city. Um, one thing that I
just had a question about in terms of budgeting, this budget is primarily for, you
know, the labor of the- of the facilitation have. [NOISE] But I wonder if it's been,
[00:41:00] um, like. Do you guys have a guess as to how much like truth-telling
processes in the community will cost? I don't know if that's a fair question.
[LAUGHTER]
Eduardo might be able to help.
Yes. Hi. So the truth-telling processes, according to your mandate, entail the
creation of safe spaces for people to share stories. So that is [00:41:30] typically
what you will call a public hearing. That means, um, meeting with members of the
commission who are there to receive, um, the experiences or people in the public,
their communities are having more harm. And that can be of course, surrounded by
a number of different activities, rituals, spaces to ensure that, um,- that this is our
respectful space and it's a trauma informed space. [00:42:00] Um, each of those
events can have, um, will have costs of course. I do think that given the
infrastructure that the city has, there are some costs that will not be included there
and that what is going to be intensive is the time that people are going to have to
dedicate, to receive people, to work with people, and very importantly, to work with
people before they come to the actual events. Um, [00:42:30] we will have to budget
for that, of course, but I- I do think that it's- those already feasible and- and that
basically the- the costs are the- are the costs of ensuring that we're going to have
people dedicated to that and- and giving time to that. Which is also why, ah, in our
budget, we included, um, a small budget for a- a position within the city, um, a part-
time position within the city.
[00:43:00] I was gonna ask about a more detailed part of something, but actually it's
really well detailed in here, the media training. Um, and also, and this might be like
kind of a weird question to ask, but how- let's imagine in a perfect world that this
[00:43:30] has been approved by Council and all of that. What happens right after
that? Like in a perfect world, what would happen as soon as it gets approved?
I'm assuming it would go into writing up the contracts. Yeah.
So you're just asking like from the Commission perspective, like what's the first thing
we would do?
Yeah. Like so I'm imagining it's just because I'm so excited [00:44:00] about this
stuff. Like I'm imagining like something I would do, texts Angie and you and, you
know, Annie right away and be like, what can we do? How can you get this started?
Let's get this going. But, like, obviously I know that we can't just do that right away.
So what would be the steps and let's say the contract is figured out, in out of the-
what are the next steps let's say within that first 10 days after you guys, um, have
been given the proposal or approve of the proposal.
[00:44:30] Well, I think that the- the education component is one thing that really
needs to get started right away. I'm also excited and intrigued, um, Think Peace,
Eduardo and Dave have talked about a community-wide healing event just to begin.
And obviously that would take a bit of time to put together, but that's one thing that
I know I personally would really look forward to co-creating and collaborating on.
Um, but I believe that the real, um, [00:45:00] lift for this first phase is the education
component and I think that there are a lot of, um, of ideas and- and opportunities
there that I know Think Peace's outlined. So I think that that would probably be, like,
a good place to start. There's also a lot of things that can happen concurrently, you
know. I know people are really interested in like, what about the healing? What
about, you know, there's lots of things that are going on and I think that we can kind
of work through some of those. What are the priorities? I do want to say [00:45:30]
that, like, while we will have ideas and we will come to you like you would be those
decision makers.
Yes.
You know, so I don't want it to be like, and then we take over. So I saw lots of hands,
I know.
I have a really quick follow up just before you begin.
Is there a follow up or something says.
So, the local team, so this education stuff happens, and obviously we're all really
busy people. Some of us have kids, all of that stuff. Um, how is the scheduling of that
gonna go and [00:46:00] how- have you guys thought about, um, like, the situations
where like there can't be more than four of us on a Zoom meeting or things like that
as far as education goes in, like let's say someone does show up to something or
things like that. Like how do you plan to, for lack of a better term to use Counselor
Burgess' words, hold our feet to the fire. [LAUGHTER]
Yeah. Well, we'll get you some shoes and [LAUGHTER] um, no I think that, you know,
a lot of the education [00:46:30] component is going to come from Think Peace and I
think that they have a lot of tools for how to engage. I would- I would let Eduardo
speak to that.
Okay.
I agree with B. I think that the first phase has to be heavy on education and
preparation. It's a- it's a phasing which for starters, we need to ensure that the
community understands what this TRC is about. Because with all the, um,
controversies [00:47:00] that have surrounded the- the whole process, I- I really
believe that many people in the community are still not sure of what- what the TRC
supposed to be or supposed to do. So communicating and educating the community
about what the TRC is, what is supposed to be is- is a big part of this. Um, I think
there is a lot of work to do within the Commission too in order to clarify their
mandate. Makes sure that everybody has a clear vision of what- what we want to do
and what they want [00:47:30] to do as an institution. Um, and so the- the initial
moments I think are going to be very much that preparatory. Um, I- as Dave
proposed, we want to organize a public event, but also we want to make sure that
whatever event we organize is well prepared in advance so that it's not an
improvised event. It cannot- we cannot be organizing events without knowing what's
going [00:48:00] to happen there. Um, that is, we need to make sure that our
objectives are very clearly set. Um, responsibilities are very clearly set, so that those
events, I don't think they're going to happen in the first week after the budget is
approved. I think that we are still going to need a few weeks or a couple of months
perhaps, to organize something that is a space where we are all feeling safe,
respected, and heard.
[00:48:30] Making a recommendation to City Council to move this facilitation
process along, I think is probably one of the most important tasks for the
Commission to decide on right now, and also recognize that recent history has not
yet [LAUGHTER] been erased and hasn't really been resolved yet. We haven't had
any reconciliatory processes among the Commission and I think that to make any
other steps forward, that really needs to be highlighted. I really appreciate the fact
that you've like, a- accommodated that in the proposal with the line item of
[00:49:00] internal restorative and reconciliation process for our leadership. Um, I
wonder if you might- and there's a TBD next to it, [LAUGHTER] so I wonder what that
TBD is placeholder for? Um, and if you- uh, if anyone could paint a picture of what
that process might look like for us.
Yeah, we actually talked about- about this, uh, today amongst the local group and,
uh, just haven't had a chance to talk with the larger team. Um, we understand that,
you know, typically, I think that one of the things [00:49:30] that we were looking at
was sort of, healing circles and there's a couple of things that I think we want to
honor, which is, uh, you know, working with our NATO partners. And so one thing
that we had thought through was, we are organizing and have, uh, an opportunity to
go out there, uh, to start working on what this looks like for Iowa and really just get
to know one another. And then we would like to invite them to come here and- and
do work with us to work with you. It may not happen like in the first 10 days,
[00:50:00] but it is something that we understand is critical, uh, to moving forward.
And so we're trying to get ahead of that. So this contract doesn't mean- [LAUGHTER]
this proposal is even, but- brought to council and we're already trying to organize
ourselves to get out there, um, so that we can have hopefully if they would, you
know, if we can get things kind of moving, then it would be led by and with our
native partners. So I mean, logistically speaking, obviously, there are constraints
with, you know, legal Sunshine Laws like, well, we'll have [00:50:30] to split up, we'll
have to reconfigure, uh, but that is our- one of our intentions. And if you like, we
can- we can write that into the proposal so that it's clear, uh, what- what we were
anticipating, um. But yeah, hopefully that answers your question.
Um, I'm just wanna go real quick because I don't wanna forget about something that
I wanted to say. Amel said, you know, we need to have advertisements in different
languages and things like that. So do we need to have [00:51:00] like somewhere in
our budget somewhere for like translators as well? I just, you know-.
I think- I think the purposes of the proposal- I'm- we're gonna [NOISE].
I'm just saying, to add there right now for later to think about, you know, something
later. I just didn't wanna forget that because there was a good point that she made
and as far as you know, how we- you know, what's gonna happen, you know, if we go
to the city and they say yes, hopefully. And they say yes and what's gonna be the
next steps? That's kinda [00:51:30] what I think that agenda item number 7 is going
to be about because we need to start, you know, figuring out the ways that we
wanna, you know. Even though it's not nothing that's confirmed that we're gonna
get this approved, we need to start. So I think that's what agenda item number 7 is
gonna be talking about because we need to start. We can't just say, Hey, we have
this approved, now what we're gonna do, we're gonna start at this plan and how we
wanna outreach and- to the community. That was a thing that I wanna add it to this
agenda. So I think this will be a touch on them.
I- I will quickly respond about the translation [00:52:00] services. Iowa City does
actually have translation services and it's- uh, I was just actually giving them
prompts today because I think in the county they actually have one of the more
extensive translation services and we have so many people in our community that
we also want to obviously compensate for. Maybe that comes out of our, you know,
$10,000 community fund, you know. So again, trying to honor the- the professions
within the community, but also, as Angie had pointed out, the city has resources
[00:52:30] that they're already doing. So we should be able- you should be able to
have access to those.
Yeah. I mean, this should work up.
Yeah.
Okay. I just have one last question. It's, uh, you know, the abstract. I'm just curious
because we are saying that we are happy with what you have written, but I'm
curious what- what challenges do you anticipate? What are you concerned about or
worried about? And that doesn't necessarily have to be a bad thing. Just curious,
what are you anticipating as we move forward [00:53:00] in this?
I think some had to be really important especially because there are so many
proposals that are interwoven, is that communication piece? Which we've talked
about, the coordinator piece we pulled out and kind of redefined the city
expectation. But that communication amongst all the different entities is going to be
absolutely key, like Via talked about and Eduardo. Some of the stuff can happen at
the same time, but really [00:53:30] continuing to stay on the same page, which I
would just want to pause again and rewind us back. It was so important that our
team, Kearns & West, Think Peace, the native partners ourselves, have had so much
time to pause and regroup and share truth so that we can stay on those same
pages. But continuing to onboard new entities, being able to communicate with
them, being able to get all your guy's feedback and work it into next steps, I think
that's another piece [00:54:00] that- because of the meeting laws, we have to make
sure we communicate and schedule those two or three meetings and that you all are
hearing the same things before we move into action. And that's something that, uh,
I just get excited to have time with you guys. But I do think that is- it's a- it's
something we have to really put a lot of forethought into scheduling. So that would
be my piece.
Can I answer or did you wanna?
Um, what am I concerned about? [LAUGHTER] [00:54:30] Um, I think what we're
about to embark on is something our community has never seen before. Uh, I worry
about the white culture that permeates every single one of us and our everyday
experiences. I don't- we don't have any control over how this- our community is
going to respond to this. I- I think what sort of, grounds me is the people in the room
and the commitment [00:55:00] to doing this together. Um, so there are things that
we cannot control and there are systems in place that have been in place for a really
long time that are going to rear their ugly heads. And I think that that's probably one
thing that keeps me up at night, is not sure how this is gonna unfold. But knowing
that it isn't so incredibly important that it does. So it's a little abstract, but I
[00:55:30] think that- that's- that's what concerns me.
Um, for me, on that concern that you gave, I think one thing that may help alleviate
it is, uh- [OVERLAPPING]
Mohamed, I think Heather was waiting before you.
Oh, sorry.
And I don't know if you want Annie to add her concern. [OVERLAPPING] Okay. Sorry.
Oh. Um, so one concern I had has already been kind of alleviated tonight because
you guys are already percolating on how do we wanna do this? [00:56:00] You've
had to spend so much time getting to this point that I haven't heard you talk about,
what are we gonna do with the media? Who are- how are we gonna reach out? And
so I see that. And so then, now, that I'm see- seeing that, I'm wanting to be sure
that, like, my mind is going a lot of differe- different directions. Where will that be on
an agenda for all of you? Where will there be groups of you that are working
together? Where will there be people in the community and in the city staff that
[00:56:30] are helping making that happen? Like, all of that will organically happen.
And just seeing that it's already starting, the percolation is starting, is really
heartening. The other piece about, uh, the broader community reminds me of
something that Carrie Norton, who's here tonight, has been talking about fro- since
the get-go, which I just wanna offer out, which is, what about having the- a- and I'm
just tossing it out as an idea. [00:57:00] What about having people in the different
areas of this community, in the schools, in the housing, in the real estate, in- in- in
the legal area, all the areas in our community, having them create their own team or
looking at their own history of how they've been part of the systemic inequity? That's
my [00:57:30] shorthand for what she said. And encourage them to make their own,
um, proposals, and their own assessment, and how they've actually made some
progress, and maybe begin to talk about some of their goals. And it's comes to mind
because we're talking about the broader community and the resistance. If in those
areas of community members, and professionals, and non-profits, people began
grappling with their own areas, that might make them [00:58:00] feel part of what's
happening and part of the change rather than resisting or something else. I don't
know. So that just comes to mind. Check.
I do wanna honor, yeah.
Yeah. Thank you. I was gonna, um, see if either Larry or Eduardo would like to
answer the question.
Go ahead, Eduardo
Sorry, I didn't catch it. I'm, um, I- I have to tell you that it's 01:00 AM here, where I
am, [00:58:30] and [LAUGHTER] I'm kind- I'm kind of fading. [LAUGHTER] If- if you
could, uh, just put it, uh, briefly, Annie. Thank you. Um, s- well, um, my question
was, um, what challenges do you anticipate or concerns do you have as we embark
on this journey?
Right. So, um, look, it's- we all know that the, um, the community is quite divided.
And so one risk that I see [00:59:00] is that, um, people continue to see the
commission just as a projection of their fears and a projection of the polarizing, uh,
situation that they have lived and the polarizing- the situation in which the city and
the communities already live. And, uh, the challenge is going to be to relaunch the
commission and to, uh, create and gain a new image of what the commission is and
can be, where the [00:59:30] commission is not, um, at the center of the discussion
because of some, um, controversy, but it's at the center of the discussion because it
helps, um, create spaces of dialogue, and spaces of mediation, spaces of, um, of- of
construct- construction of something new. But my fear is that indeed the, um, that-
that, there is a lot of damage in the psyche of the community and that people are
still, um, uh, [01:00:00] polarized, uh, or angry, or depressed, or traumatized, and
they bring that- those feelings to the commission. That is what needs to be avoided.
And that is why we need to be very intentional and very careful in each of the steps
we take from now on.
I'll just very briefly say that- that I think my- my only anxiety at this moment is just
trying to find a way [01:00:30] to sort of, uh, limit the way that we undertake fact
finding so that it can, you know, be both productive, and meaningful, and also not
overtax the- the whole process. Because I think, you know, clearly, there are always
going to be more facts that will need to be found, there are people that- who- there
are people who may challenge the veracity of facts that are found. And so I just, you
know, have a little bit of anxiety around [01:01:00] just sort of creating boundaries
around what that process will be, and- and what we're gonna to look to find, and
those sorts of things.
Thank you all. So-
You wanted-
Oh, Mohamed wanted to go.
[NOISE] Um, in terms of the concerns that were brought up, um, just want to say
again, uh, one thing I think that will alleviate it is just more of a public dashboard,
and website materials, and also these videos. So again, um, if [01:01:30] we have
that information out there, it's more of us defining, uh, not just what the commission
is but also maybe good to include things on what the commission is not so that
others don't really have, you know, that room to say that, hey, this commission is
also for this or for that. So if there is no room where we have defined what the
commission is not, then that allows people to kind of let their imaginations really run
wild. Uh, the other thing is, um, when it comes to the actual, [01:02:00] like,
community partnerships and then doing more on the data collection pieces, I think,
uh, one thing that'd be really beneficial there is really leaning on the university
community a little more. I mean, we have how many thousands of kids at the
university studying computer science, or data science, or whatever it is, uh, that are
going to want to do some kind of project to be able to put on a resume, or put on a
job application, etc. So, um, um, I think that would be really helpful, uh, again for,
uh, making [01:02:30] sure that this stuff is repeatable within the community even
after we've- we're done, and it also spreads to more people around here, as that
group of people is going to be, uh, better at talking to the people that they work with
or that they are also in classes with. As we see that the university community
doesn't really mix in with the Iowa City community as a whole as much as we'd
probably like to. And, uh, with who is really involved [01:03:00] in most of the
protests sounds like that'd be a really great place to, uh, try to make a bridge.
As I thank you all for sharing kind of where your thoughts and anxieties lie. I think it
was a really good question. It was important for us to hear. One of the things that I
took away from, what all of you said is, you know, um, the big question mark here is
how the community responds and reacts to us. We've gotten to see a little bit about
what the- what the community thinks about us as a commission, [01:03:30] and it's
mixed. We have a lot of support and we have a lot of people who are casting doubts
on us and I agree with Mohamed, one of the best things that we can do is just
provide education, education, education, in terms of establishing who we are and
what our process is going to be moving forward. Um, but I also feel like really
protective over you all. Like, you know, I think that we've all experienced in- on the
brunt of, um, receiving the contr- controversy and like the- the heaviness of all of
that, um, and [01:04:00] just like, it's on my mind for us to think about as a
commission, how we protect our facilitator, um, from controversy and just so that
they can do their job. And I don't know if that means that we just- how- how weak to
do to draw attention so that they can just keep working, right? Um, so that's
something that I want us to think about as we move into this. In terms of what
you've heard tonight, um, in the notes that you've been taking, the feedback that
we've been giving, do you need any more time with this or [01:04:30] is this ready
for prime time?
I think that if it is acceptable to you, if- I- to me and I'll let my other colleagues
speak as well, um, it sounds like this is acceptable with what we have. Obviously we
don't have like very minute details. I've heard a lot of like, can we add more for
marketing? Can we- If you would like us to do that, we can certainly do that. But I
feel like, and I've heard this from others, is like we could just get the budget
[LAUGHTER] then we can figure out the details. So I- [01:05:00] I think if you all are
good with this we are good with the blood that's on the paper and moment
[LAUGHTER] So yeah. We can definitely put this forward.
Before you, Eric, when do we [inaudible 01:05:15]
Yeah. Thank you, everyone. And, uh, for the proposal, again, right from the get-go
we've been part of you as we worked on this to get to this point. [01:05:30] Uh,
yeah. Like most of us here I'm nervous about the total figure. I know we already- the
almost 300 had- had passed, so we're over that. I'm anxious about educating on
why they almost- the- why they jump from that. The other thing I'm piggybacking on
is, [01:06:00] uh, with the counsel we are having two- two, uh, projects going on for,
let me use the word project, presenting our recommendation to them and at the
same time, our leadership concern because it is there. So and as a p- thank you very
much Stity for providing [01:06:30] a copy of this book on restorative justice, eh,
bringing me back to the center of the work of this commission. And we- we did
propose with our leadership issue, and um, it's a concern as we move forward we
then facilitate our proposal because even if we don't discuss it, it is there. It's a
white elephant in the hall. [01:07:00] So that's a concern for me that, uh, we really
can't afford to push it aside or have it under the carpet of the hall and- and move on.
We have to deal with it, and- and it's a fore taste of what's coming ahead of us of
this work. Uh, nobody said it's easy. Nobody [01:07:30] said it's not painful. Nobody
said it's neat. Nobody said it's linear. We leave that. God gave me a lot of words. So
I'll stop there and I hope with those many words that I've put in my two points that I
started out intending to put there, the my anxiety on the total figure as we present it
to council, and that as leadership, the facilitator said their peace on restorative
[01:08:00] justice as far as our leadership concern- is concerned even now when
they are not yet. We haven't- they haven't yet been hired. But they've got that piece
on there. They- they verbalize that. So our sales are the commission. Let us not
sweep it under the rug and move it together with the facilitator project. I'll stop
there because I'll keep going round in circles.
This is Commissioner Johnson. [01:08:30] I [NOISE] I personally, I- I appreciate it and
I agree with you as well. Uh, I hope that we can think, uh, through hopefully item
number 7 with our outreach to the community, we can hopefully mend some, uh,
issues that we've had. But I definitely agree with, uh, we need to address the issues
that we have and get them squared away and then put them away and then leave
them permanently done. But just trying to act like they don't exist, [01:09:00] that's-
that's a problem that's waiting to happen later. That's all. So I hope we can get that
squared away. With that being said, uh, that's it.
Yeah. I don't- I just got the same message that those two just had. So I'm going to
leave it at that.
For me, uh, for the piece on how you're comfortable with moving things forward as
threatened thus far, but, [01:09:30] uh, I would just like until the next meeting to
just review the entire proposal again and then vote on it hopefully at the next
meeting, if that sounds good. But with that being said, the things I brought up about
kind of having more of like a dashboard newsletter and things of that nature, I would
like to schedule a time where I can meet with some of the facilitator group, some of
you or all of you prior to the September 15th meeting, and I can just kind of show
you just the sketches and [01:10:00] ideas I have around those topics. That way it's
not completely on you to just make it up, but at least having a framework that we
can look at and bring to a city council in itself.
This is Commissioner Rivera. I'm going to make a motion to pass this tonight.
Anyone to second that motion?
Is there any discussion?
My discussion piece is that, uh, for raising the concern on, [01:10:30] um, taking
care of the whole like leadership questions but also the restorative justice piece, we
did just talk about how the TBD is written there in terms of how that's going to go.
So I don't feel comfortable voting on it tonight if that's going to be passed with it
being written as TBD.
I don't feel comfortable voting on it too tonight because I'm agree with both of my
fellow counselors we can't sweep stuff under the rug and expect to take the budget
to the council. It's not going to- It's just my personal opinion and just common sense.
We can't take a budget to the council at this point right [01:11:00] now until the
healing happens.
This is Commissioner Johnson. Uh, seems like common sense seems to be common
today. So, uh, agreed, absolutely.
Can I make one comment. So I'm not sure procedurally what would be helpful, um,
because I- I don't think anybody wants to sweep any elephant under any rug. Um,
but we did try and answer the question as to how we thought that that [01:11:30]
could happen. If it would be helpful and be more comfortable, we can certainly detail
out what we said verbally. So it's not TBD but it is an itemized like this is the
process; we are going out east and then we're coming back and then the process will
happen if that's more comfortable and I don't know process wise. Obviously, you
don't have that in front of you. Um, but I understand the urgency, so I'm- I'm not
sure. I'm just trying to be helpful and address the concern because I- I think we all
agree [01:12:00] that that is a concern.
Annie wants - [inaudible 01:12:04] go ahead.
If- if I may ask Stephanie to talk, we asked her how soon if you guys accepted the
proposal tonight, how soon which council meeting would it go to? And it was a
surprise to us that it would be so far out, because of the developing of five contracts.
So do you want to mentioned that timing because it may be that that's
[OVERLAPPING] so far out that you could still do work [01:12:30] at the next meeting
before that.
I don't know what the timing would be, but I- I think it would be short of a miracle for
it- for five agreements to be completed and in front of the City Council for their
meeting on the 13th. Um, so that's just my opinion. Um, but how long after that
point? you know, I just the- that's all handled through a different department so. And
it matters also, you know, the agreements are sent out between the parties and you
know [01:13:00] depends on how many edits, changes that you- you may have to to
the agreement's too so-
I agree um, with the proposed facilitators that they have addressed my concerns at
least about the fact that there's a lot still up in the air in terms of how we as a
commission, cooperate and exist- co-exist with one another. Right? That's part of
phase one, that's not swept under the rug, it's- it's operationalized in this proposal.
My concern with pushing it back [01:13:30] is that that actually pushes back our
reconciliation process by making- the passing this proposal, another item on the
next agenda then we're still pushing back our opportunity to move forward, um, with
all- all of the other things, good things we can do as a commission.
If I could [OVERLAPPING]
I have a question. Are we able to possibly have in other work session?
Um, yes but, uh-
To just expedite things after we get the things squared away.
What is [01:14:00] your- so exactly what are you wanting to- what are you- what's
your reasoning to do the work session versus regular?
Well, if we don't take the vote now and we take care of and deal with whatever
issues that we have and then instead of letting it go, get the ball kicked down a road
a little bit more, we just have a work session and try to get us squared away for him.
For those who are not comfortable with proposing this, what are the specific
recommendations that you can make to- to them um-
[01:14:30] Before we do that, I just- I would like to say one thing if that's okay. I
wanted to say that I understand both sides of my fellow commissioners and I hear
you- you feel like things are being swept under the rug. That was never the
intention. Um, we are trying to move forward in a restored just this process. And I
personally believe that we don't have to move in haste, and also two things can
exist at the same time. It's equally impor- important to have reconciliation amongst
ourselves [01:15:00] and move this proposal forward. And as, um, we're hearing, we
can do both at the same time. If we choose, in my opinion, to push back our
proposal, we're setting ourselves back, so why can't we do it at the same time?
Becau- I'm saying that I- I am very much in favor of- of us agreeing to move forward
on the proposal with the plans to move forward with how we can heal our
commission because there has been hurt done and we need [01:15:30] to address it
and we need to talk to the community about it. It is the elephant in the room, but it
doesn't have to be for much longer. It's not like we are going- it's not like everyone
doesn't know what's been happening, but a very important thing is this proposal. We
cannot do our jobs without the proposal. So it is part of our mission, we have to do
both at the same time in my opinion so-
In my opinion, I- I just- I feel like if we're going to step forward, step [01:16:00]
forward your best suit on. So go on there, square it our way, have everything kind of
broken down and, uh, with our best foot forward. So that's just my opinion as well.
So, I agree to disagree.
And that's my opinion too because half of the- half of this- half the people in the
room know that rejection that we've got from the city time and time again. And
that's what makes me nervous.
That's for sure.
That's what makes me nervous, about the rejection. And [01:16:30] now with this
latest controversy or whatever, just doesn't make me confident. Just doesn't make
me confident at all at this point right now. Because there has been no personal
reconciliation, which should have happened weeks ago. And that's what scares me
and I'm tired of the rejection. We've had rejection because we didn't want certain
members because of behaviors. Some- some of the commissioners wasn't here for
the audit rejection. I watch somewhere of my fellow council members stay
[01:17:00] up and spend hours making budgets all just for it to get rejected, all just
would get thrown out, and at this point, we've never had a controversy like this. I-
I've told people personally, I want this to pass but I fear rejection. And it needs to be
something addressed. Even if it's something public, even so- I haven't even heard-
heard of a policy about the controversy [01:17:30] and the personal things affected
my life, I haven't even heard that. [OVERLAPPING]
Are we still talking about the proposal, can we talk about [OVERLAPPING]
Don't cut me off. We had these problems before and you shouldn't be here cutting
nobody off.
Not at all.
I'll let you talk to when you want to talk, please don't get cut me off.
Okay. I'm going to ask everyone, to wanted to take a breath [OVERLAPPING].
Don't start that.
Please, take a breath. I understand that this is a hot topic, breathe.
I just text [OVERLAPPING]
And let's- let's just go back and [OVERLAPPING].
Okay, let me finish what I was saying.
I'm going to let you finish. Could you just give me a second?
Yes.
I'm going to go straight to you, I promise, [LAUGHTER].
I got you.
Okay? I [01:18:00] know that this is a hot topic, and I do believe it's related to
people's concerns, so yes, ML isn't related to the proposal. So I'm going to allow Eric
to talk, please.
Yeah.
And could you please keep it to your concern? Let's not [OVERLAPPING]
That's- that's my concern. I don't want to put forward a budget right now without a
public apology, apology to commission, apology all the other people that was
offended first before we do that sum. We can have these books talking about
restorative justice. You can restore justice if the person does- needs to go to the
restored [01:18:30] of justice, can't even apologize to people.
Okay, I hear you.
But they even saying it and that's it. That concerns the budget. That's why I'm
worried about the budget.
Thank you so much for sharing. If I can go to Cabo and then we're going to go to
Cliff.
Commissioner Nobiss had had her [OVERLAPPING].
Okay.
Yeah.
It was it up first? Go ahead [OVERLAPPING] Ms. Sikowis. So sorry I missed you.
That's okay. Um, I'm just going to be honest. I feel like sometimes like people just
want this drama to be discussed more and more and I'm just [01:19:00] tired of
talking about it. The true- the reconciliation process is moving forward with Amel
and this other person worsen and that's going to take some time. And um, so I
absolutely agree with uh, our chair when um, she says that two things can exist at
the same time. There's no need for us to continue talking about this at the moment
because there is stuff happening and we will be getting reports from what I've been
told and [01:19:30] things are going to move forward in that capacity. Um, so I'd
really like to focus on this budget. I'd really like to focus on getting it, uh, passed, uh,
through council. I don't think it's going to affect us. Um, I think that we're doing what
we're supposed to be doing, and that council is going to appreciate that. Um, I also
don't think we're broken down or whatever it is that somebody said. I think that's
rude and I think that's, um, a cruel thing to say about this commission that's actually
still here together doing good work. [01:20:00] So um, I'm proud of this commission
and how we've handled things, and I just really want to move forward.
Thank you.
Yeah Kevo, thank you.
I desperately agree that we need or a reconciliatory process as soon as possible.
What this commission is showing I think with all the respect and love in the world is
that we shouldn't be reconciling ourselves. I think that we need media- mediation. I
think that we need someone in the role of facilitation so that we [01:20:30] can have
someone do that work, set that work-up before us because that's- I think one of the
reasons that we haven't been able to move forward with the reconciliation-
reconciliatory processes, is because there's no outside party who can organize us to-
to start that process. So I think we- we get there by passing this budget.
Angie [inaudible 01:20:50] Cliff.
When it comes down to it. This is one to- I- I had a few things that I wanted to
discuss [01:21:00] tonight that I tried to get put on an agenda. And apparently, I
must have missed the phone call or something while I was working and it didn't get
put on an agenda and it's exactly for this reason.
Just sure that this is being specifically on the proposal or would this be better as a
commissioner announcement?
No, I'm not going towards the commissioner announcement. Not yet. But this is still
addressing exactly what we're talking about right now, uh.
This is addressing your concerns about not- about the proposal?
Yes- [01:21:30] yes, because I am worried about us failing with this proposal due to
the fact that we have unresolved issues clearly amongst us. And, ah, they're
unnecessary issues that need to be squared away. And these issues should have
never existed in the first place, but they do, so therefore, we have to deal with them.
In order to deal with them, it will show strength in us to not only push forward with
this proposal and everything else that we wanna get done. [01:22:00] But it also
keeps us organized and not amongst each other at each other in any way, shape, or
form. Uh, I feel like, uh, right now, it's- there is an uncomfortability in the air that is
easily able to be seen, period. And with that being said, ah, we're not gonna
[LAUGHTER] be able to move forward because we're gonna be looked at as all over
the place and don't have things together. It's clear as day. And to ignore things or to
put things off so that we can have, [01:22:30] ah, another facilitator. And it is once
again, the same nightmare that I had before about kicking a ball down the road. If
we would have just dealt with this a certain way at certain points and times, then we
wouldn't even be having this conversation and it would be a lot easier for us forward
to move on. But if we constantly keep trying to cover things up for whatever reasons
or move it along the line for whatever reasons, we're never ever gonna get things
done and we're gonna look unorganized. That's my nightmare because all this time
we've [01:23:00] been working towards a goal, we did not ask for whatever issues
that came about to come about, but now we have to deal with them. That's the- to
me a professional way of handling it. To skip past it to just whatever it is or make
noises while we're in meetings and throw whatever we wanna do out there is
irritating at very bare minimum. And that is not helping the situation in any way,
shape, or form, especially [01:23:30] when it's people who caused it in the first
place. I- I can't deal with this level of unprofessionalism and I've been trying my best
to deal with it for a long time. So I do have announcements at the end that I would
like to go further into, but as of right now, I'm gonna leave it to you right there.
Go ahead, Amel.
Um, Angie, can you just like speak to the conversations that you and I have had this
week? It seems to me [01:24:00] that everyone thinks that, ah, I have just been like
what F this, F the restorative justice process. Like I haven't been talking to
counselors every single day of the week.
Made a podcast.
Like I haven't- Clifton, hey, can you zip your lips? Thanks, that would be super
helpful. [BACKGROUND]
Okay- okay.
I'm gonna talk to- can you speak to what I've been saying to you? Can I speak to-
what I've been saying? Can I-
All right. Everyone, do we need to take a break?
Yeah.
Do we need to take a break? I don't know if that's a thing that we can do.
[OVERLAPPING] We [01:24:30] need to take a five-minute break and please let's
reconvene.
Yeah.
Thank you. Thank you, everyone.
Are we back on? I wanna thank everyone, um, especially in the public, um, for just
giving us a few moments to- to talk through some things. Um, I would like us all to
come back, and actually would like to first share how I feel [01:25:00] about things
and then invite Angie, um, to talk a little bit about the discussion we had the other
day and how, um, I- I really just, um, was thinking about both sides. I just said
outside that I am a person that likes to see, um, and try to feel what people are
thinking on both sides because I do believe that multiple truths can exist. Everyone
is entitled to their feelings. Everyone's feelings are valid. Um, sometimes you have to
dig [01:25:30] deep and understand why you're feeling certain things and why
you're being triggered in certain ways. I truly believe, as Commissioner Rivera said,
that we need a reconciliatory process that is mediated. Uh, we have a lot of raw
emotions, on all sides. We have a lot of feelings. I say myself included. I truly believe
that if we're gonna do what is best for this community, we should be the example.
We should [01:26:00] be able to showcase what we have committed to do, um, to
the community by showing what true restorative justice is. Now, I am still learning
about restorative justice. Um, I am still getting into it. I am still a beginner, but I
know that there's a better way than the way we've been handling it. And I think that
everyone's voice deserves to be heard. So with that, I would love if Angie and Vee
might be able to just share [01:26:30] what that could look like so that we could
move forward, um, and do what this community has asked for and what this
community deserves. Sorry to put you on the spot.
Thank- thank you. I'm just-, um, I am still very honored to be here with you all doing
this work and just again Sikowis being on there, um, as well. Um, so the
reconciliation, peace, some conversations that have been had but not with
everyone. So that's part of why it's not on the agenda. It's not something that we've-
but some of that just bringing [01:27:00] that to light here is having a circle. And
because of the, ah-
Open records.
Open records. Thank you. The open records, it would need to be multiple circles. So
creating a safe space, I think somebody in the public had talked about earlier,
needing to create safe spaces, ah, so that it's not in the public and that there's
opportunity. Now, the majority of the folks here tonight, the commissioners, have
been in circle. Um, as I understood it, [01:27:30] there was something that they all
got out of it. So wanting to offer, um, an out of public keeping with the laws circles
so that there can be a pathway sooner rather than waiting for the proposal later. I
said it before that coordinating everybody's schedule, it can be done. We did it in
two weeks. It happened. We can do it again. And that would allow for some
[01:28:00] of those concerns that different commissioners are bringing up to at least
be explored sooner rather than later. Um, so I don't know that I'd fully put it all out
there, but it would be something that in one week- three days, I think Chastity asked
us to coordinate. In three days, we coordinated two sessions. I think we can do that
again. And the proposal, if- it's a proposal, is that it would be a series of circles
specifically for TRC- current TRC members to come around [01:28:30] the
leadership, um, that topic and that challenge. Not knowing where a circle will go,
but allowing for that space so it's not, like so many have said, that elephant in the
room is being addressed as soon as we can get those two circles created. So I was
just putting that out there, and I don't know if there's anything else that, ah, you all
wanted to add to that. I do wanna add something that I wanna be sensitive to. I
remember Sikowis earlier on, um, sharing [01:29:00] their discomfort in that they
would not be, uh, comfortable having circles led. Uh, Sikowis if I'm getting, or
Commissioner Nobiss, if I'm getting this incorrect, please- please help me, by
somebody white in circle. So I wanna make sure that that's also elevated back into
the space that if this is a direction you wanna go, making sure that it's in right
relationship with all commissioners and not just the ones that wanna engage this
process, ah, tomorrow. So with that, I'm just gonna[OVERLAPPING]
It's not- Just [01:29:30] to clarify, it's not just about somebody white, it's just
somebody not indigenous carrying out indigenous practices.
And I wanna respond to what Angie was saying. Unbeknownst to a lot of people, and
I don't know who have- who else. But yesterday, I agreed to do a circle to restore
this justice to get this stuff together. But after this behavior today, I've got to rethink
that. I agreed yesterday without even knowing what was gonna happen today. But I
agreed already [01:30:00] because I felt like we needed to have the healing part
that's been begged for and yearned for so long. And I agreed to it without knowing
what's gonna today. Imma have to reconsider that agreement.
Anything else from any other commissioners? Does anyone else have any thoughts?
Just wanna note that like, um, so we have a line item in the proposal for addressing
this. And, [01:30:30] um, I think maybe on a technicality, we can change that TBD to
be more descriptive and be able to vote on it tonight because it's already in the
proposal, but I would ask Stephanie to verify that. I don't wanna hold things up. I
recognize that there's a lot of tension. It feels like the crux of this is elevating that.
And I think that maybe one thing that we can do to help, this is a small thing, but
when we present to counsel, we can highlight that change. And highlight that is
[01:31:00] like one of the first things that we will be doing. And we can outline the
process with which we see that happening, um, so that it's not, uh, an unknown or,
you know, something that people are talking around. It's something that we're
addressing very directly. Knowing that, as many people have talked about, many
things can happen and be held at the same time. This pain and trauma has been
happening, you know, for- for some time now, even with not just the most recent
iteration, but throughout the length and- of- [01:31:30] of the commission itself, like,
there's been, you know, harm that has happened. So I think that- I just wanted to say
that into this space cause I- I don't wanna split hairs here, but I think that it may just
be a technicality and we can really dig in and address that, um, and still allow you to
vote on it. But I would ask Stephanie to clarify if- if it's already a line item on the- in
the proposal and we just need to change some of the language to be more clear.
Can they still vote on it tonight?
Yeah. I think that the motion is, uh, reworded to [01:32:00] acknowledge with the-
with the additions to the TBD on the final version.
And my, um, motion and to approve, um, this proposal and budget, um, with a little
bit of extra detail as you guys have laid it out for us in the TBD section for the
internal restorative and reconciliation process.
I'm gonna second that motion.
Okay. Any further discussion? If not, I'm gonna take a roll call. Okay. Commissioner
Ali?
Yes.
[01:32:30] Commissioner Dillard?
Yes.
Commissioner Gathua.
No, because,
uh, there still needs to be some more simmering.
Okay. Commissioner Johnson?
No.
Commissioner Harris?
No.
[01:33:00] Uh, commissioner, uh, Nobiss?
Yes.
Commissioner Rivera?
Yes.
And Commissioner Traore?
Stephanie, before I go, what's the current count? Four, three.
Four is yes?
Correct.
Um, with that being said, um, I'll preface my vote with, uh, I'm voting this way as I
don't want to put a proposal forward with the commission being split in this way and
[01:33:30] without having more details on what exactly we can do to alleviate that
split. So even though this may push things back, what is it? Ten days, two weeks,
whichever one it is, uh, I'd rather have us all be on the same page or closer to that.
So I will vote no.
Okay. The motion is 4, 4, which means the motion fails.
Okay. Um, it's very clear that we're split and I do agree that we should be on a
united front when we submit the proposal. [01:34:00] Um, I do find it unfortunate,
but I do hear y'all- everyone's reasons and I respect your decisions on both sides. I,
um, hope that we can move forward in discussions on re- reconciliatory process as
been discussed by our proposal team if possible. I don't know if that's still possible
in the next couple of weeks, um, like you just said, Angie. Okay. [01:34:30] So with
that being said, I will go ahead and, uh, text everyone and maybe have Stephanie
email and see when we can get people together cause this is important, um, but we-
we can still move forward. Um, is there anything else we wanna do- we wanna talk
about on this line item?
The only thing I would say that I'll add that at the almost two years of trying to go to
this and try to get a budget to proposed, for me to vote no on that is really
important.
[01:35:00] Okay. Thank you. Anyone else wanna say anything else on this line item?
Can I just add one more thing? Sorry, it's a very technical thing, but I just wanted to
mention it, um, cause I know Commissioner Gathua was mentioning that one of her
concerns is the budget. So, um, originally when we had proposed our budget, it was
388,875, and then, um, right now it's 402,130, which is a difference of 13,000
roughly. And I just wanted us to note that 10,000 of that was something new that we
had added, [01:35:30] which was that community fund for organizations and groups.
So I just wanted to let the commissioners know that in terms of the actual budget,
um, that there was some technical like small things I just wanted to po- point out for
next time for consideration.
Okay.
Chair, let me just make a response to that to- to [inaudible 01:35:48]
Yeah.
Uh, when I put it out as, uh, probably I use the word concern on that on the budget.
It's more of an anxiety [01:36:00] and being more of a devil's advocate because-
and really that piece of education you've just put out there, that we - we need to be
ready because the budget, uh, seems to be [inaudible 01:36:16] just that piece of
education because, I get it, I've been part of this as we go to that point. So going in,
I was just saying I'll be anxious because I'm- I'm not here and [01:36:30] the
facilitator there. No, we've been moving together.
Yeah.
So that we have to be ready for that clarification.
Yeah. Absolutely. Thank you. Did you have something?
Yeah, I would just add again- say- say it again, um, Commissioner, uh, Nobiss also,
I'd put out there just whatever reconciliation piece that you're doing, making sure
that it's in right relationship, uh, with what, uh, Commissioner Nobiss had stated.
What did I state, sorry. Can you say that again?
The- the piece that [01:37:00] you had shared about, um, and I- I might have gotten
the wrong word with the not wanting to be encircled with- with a being led by a non-
native partner, uh, or a non-native- and again, my words are all over the place right
now, but just wanting to make sure that that is integrated into whatever it is the rest
of the commission [inaudible 01:37:17]
[OVERLAPPING] Oh, yeah, I can clarify that. That, um, any, uh, indigenous, uh, um,
tradition- cultural tradition, uh, be carried out by a tradit- by a- by an [01:37:30]
indigenous practitioner.
Thank you.
My only question is [inaudible 01:37:38] commissioners, um, besides are, um, the
reasons stated for, um, not passing the proposal. Are we, um, we are all happy with
what it is now, so we can ask them to bring it back the following week in the same
state is what we are saying. I'm just making sure I'm understanding that we're not
asking the [01:38:00] proposal team to come back with any changes, just in the
same way.
I would have voted yes.
Okay.
Just-
But I'm not- yeah.
Not yet. We're going to get to that.
Even for me, it is not the facilitator proposal because they use the about simmering.
It's more on our restorative justice process and our leadership.
Okay- okay.
I- I've been part of the facilitator proposal. We've been working on it. And [01:38:30]
yeah. So it's more just simmering on our own restorative justice.
Okay.
Yeah. And I explained how they, uh, intertwined and how I'm seeing it in my mind
timed. Yeah.
And- and I just want to add one more thing and be quiet. Please don't forget, you
know, this has been a tough process, but please don't forget that I don't know, you
know, I know that this member she had other, you know, issues going on in life, but
we lost a commissioner member behind some of this stuff. Assuming- that that's
what I'm assuming, [01:39:00] but that was partly because I know she had other
things going on, health things and her health.
I think, um, I- I think Commissioner, uh, that's not related to this. And she did state
the reason. [OVERLAPPING] It's not related. She stated the reason why she was
stepping down last time. I hear why you are thinking that, but let's- let's make sure
we stick with the facts that Commissioner Daniels gave us and not put out anything
false out there. I appreciate that.
I don't think that's false. You had to have a conversation behind me, so-
Okay. [01:39:30] Does anyone else have anything else to say about this line item? I-
if- with that, I wanna thank our proposal teams so much. We did have- we did say
we're going to open it back up for public comment afterwards. So I'm gonna go
ahead and do that online. And if there's no one up there, then, um, in-person, go
ahead. Thank you.
Hi. My name is Joseph Prudy. And I've been experiencing [01:40:00] a lot of violence
at the farmers market recently. Um, as a result of me not giving up my stall because
I didn't wanna get moved to the back where I might have been a tech. We know this
is a sensitive matter- this is a sensitive matter. I'm just saying it right now.
Yeah. [OVERLAPPING] I choose to stop you before saying anything I just wanna
make sure-
Saturday morning if I choose to- to use my First Amendment rights on Saturday
morning at the farmer's.
Excuse me sir, we are talking about the proposal. Is this about the proposal?
I expect not to be violated [01:40:30] with violence. Thank you.
Just- I just wanna preface with when it comes to specific agenda items. If you have
something on that, please state so and do so. But if it's just a general comments, we
do have an agenda item at the very beginning of every meeting that allows you to
comment on items not on the agenda. If you needed us to reopen that portion, just
please let us know that ahead of time, but we just don't want to be confused.
Yes, sir. I humbly- I humbly do apologize, [01:41:00] sir. I am unfamiliar with the way
this group needs to be presented.
Thank you.
But I'm just saying I'm tired of the violence and I'm tired of the hate.
Thank you. Okay. Um, if there's no one else in the public, we're gonna move on to
item number 7.
There's Noah.
Oh, go ahead, Noah.
Hello. Can you hear me?
Yes.
All right. I just wanna address that [inaudible 01:41:26] just so you could know.
These are ugly ass out in there and no one wants your voice. [01:41:30] No one
gives a crap about you.
[OVERLAPPING] Mute him please.
[LAUGHTER] I just wanted to let that Nazi know.
We do actually have to mute that as we do have specifically in our bylaws, that
people that are, um, in public comment are not to be addressing people directly that
are also making public comment, which is actually this word.
We disagree but we don't do insults. But we disagree, but we don't do that.
The man's a Nazi.
Okay. Can we take him off, please? Thank You, Noah,.
[01:42:00] Like that is certifiable fact. I'm just gonna -
Okay. If there's no one else, we're gonna move on to item number 7. And to preface
this, the reason why I put this on there is several commissioners asked about what
we could do before we get the proposal passed. There's concerns about how can- we
can be more visible in the community. So that's really what this item was about. And
why is on there. [01:42:30] We're gonna open up for public comments online first.
There's anyone that liked to talk about that? And if not, we'll move in to our, uh,
public audience. Okay, Commissioners, go ahead.
Taking a cue from my fellow commissioners who, um, kind of are just naming, uh, so
the difficulties we're still facing. I- I don't think that we can have a productive
conversation about branding [01:43:00] or- or reach out to the community until we
do reconcile.
I agree with that as well.
Okay.
[inaudible 01:43:07].
Okay. So, um, I will move unless there's other opinions or thoughts that we table this
until after this is all [OVERLAPPING]
I don't understand what branding means. Like can somebody explain that to me?
Branding marketing. So essentially, branding, [01:43:30] uh, your- your message in
terms of your mission and value statements, who you are, what you are, what you
believe in, uh, what your group, uh, prioritizes, what your group does not prioritize.
Uh, what your group would like to focus on, what your group would not like to focus
on, things of that nature. Uh, for me, uh, I do think there's some things that could be
defined around it today, but at the same time, uh, with what we're looking to do for
more of the reconciliation amongst commissioners themselves. And also when it
comes to, [01:44:00] you know, whether we can do our own website, how that stuff
really looks. I'd like to get an answer on that first and foremost, because that would
really inform more of what I could say on this. And I'd also like to work with the
facilitator group on that piece as well as we move towards actually getting this
whole thing voted on and passed. Uh, branding, marketing, very important. But
again, I just don't know that we're in a complete position now to define that before
we even look at specific groups we might be looking [01:44:30] at to partner with.
So why like- so the- the- if we do branding and all this stuff, like we're- we're going
to be leaving that up to the people we hire. Is that correct? Or like-
So, um, the way [OVERLAPPING] sorry, Commissioner Nobiss. What was the last
thing you said?
Oh, like that'd be something Kearns in Westwood take care of.
So that is, um definitely something that's been talked about. Uh, the way I
understood this, [01:45:00] uh, line item is how can we maybe have our own logo or,
um, have t-shirts, or, um, when we're going out in the community, have our own
presence. Um, just as we are- because as we know, um, as soon as we're able to, uh,
get this proposal passed, hopefully by city council could be a month or more from
now. So we're- it was really just how- what can we do in the meantime? Then
hopefully, um, [01:45:30] this is my own opinion. Uh, Crowns and West or our
proposal team would be able to help us out with that in a more professional way.
Oh, well, I- I mean I have a great idea. I think we should hire Andre, right? To make
us a logo and get us some t-shirts made up. And, uh, we should start looking for, um,
a web- a web developer who can, you know, make us a website. I don't see why that
has to be put on hold. I don't understand that.
So as far as I know, just to, um, I have talked to, uh, Geoff [01:46:00] Fruin and we're
not allowed to create our own social media. So I- I assume that we're not also
allowed to create our own websites. Um, Stephanie, if you can correct me on this.
And, uh, I was wondering to people that agree with what, uh, Jessie said, that we
need to start thinking about it. You know, that was kind of my thing we're thinking
about it. Maybe if you talk to somebody or you hear a story or experience, start
preparing. You know, that was my opinion. That's when she said to me and that was
my opinion. We should start thinking about people [01:46:30] that we come to shoot
selling and things like that and just trying to, you know. I tell people all the time. But,
you know we'd been through so much that they say, Hey, I'm ready to conceal my
truth, but, you know, you really don't have anything to facilitate that yet. But since
we've been close to it soon, maybe, you know, somebody or talked to somebody or
your organization or group or whatever it is, you know, just start. That's what I'm
saying. Like that's what I meant by my part of the branding and the website. That's
going to be, [01:47:00] you know, just what you mentioned, that, you know, we had
to make our own and there's some different rules and things like that. I was saying
fan and individual people and start preparing them and say, hey, how did you feel
about sharing your truth and just how those stars gathered. You know, that's what I
brought it up because there was a question that was asked here today, like so once
you get the budget, what's going to happen after that? Well, we're preparing. You
can, you know, have teams already- ready. So-
[01:47:30] Sorry, I didn't understand any of that, but, um, so can you please-
Chastity, can you please let me know what you mean by not being able to make our
own website?
So, um, as far as I understand, um, Geoff Fruin, the city manager said that is just
not,uh, policy that they are comfortable. They don't let any other commission do
this. It would be best for us to use the Iowa City website that we have webpage for
that instead. And also, uh, they [01:48:00] have specific rules and guidelines and
people are very specifically trained to, uh, maintain social media pages and- and
things like that, um, because it is governmental. So if we wanted to utilize our
website, uh, that is currently through the Iowa City.gov, we could move forward with
that, um, and-
Oh, that's cool. So we actually have people like ready to do that work for us at the
City?
Yes. We could have done that and- what I would like to propose not to cut you off is
that maybe [01:48:30] someone could champion this. This could be committee led
outside of this. Uh, and what- whoever decides they want to champion, I'm willing to
help. Uh, we can bring it back to us as we're preparing to the future so we can do
something in the meantime. Uh, I love the idea of reaching out to Andre Wright. He
is awesome at that. Uh, and maybe talking to Stephanie about what we can do
about shirts or whatever in that. Well, but I think [01:49:00] that would be best in a
committee since we- since everyone has great ideas. So is there anyone here right
now that like to champion that? Go ahead.
Mohammed? [inaudible 01:49:11].
Uh, I am a developer and I've made and manage multiple websites, social media, et
cetera, so, uh, I'm more than happy to do so. Ah, my question though, however, on
the, uh, not being able to have our own website or social media, as I understand it,
it's more of something around who is accessing it, who has, [01:49:30] uh, edit
functions and capabilities, who can access certain databases. So, um, that question
sheet I pass to you was just to get clarity around that. So I think there may be ways
to still work with them where it's- it's own stand-alone website, but maybe you just
have a link on our Ad Hoc page. And as my thing with the structure of the city
website pages is it's, in terms of user experience, not very pleasant, pretty poor, and
also very hard to find, [01:50:00] um, a specific page for a group. Like you look-
really have to google at hoc truth and reconciliation with Iowa City to quickly-
[LAUGHTER] It's- it's faster to get to the page that way than it is navigating on the
city page. And as a developer and someone that's made websites, that's just a
horrible experience. [BACKGROUND] [LAUGHTER]. So, uh, if the processes are so set
in stone that we can't go around that I think we really need to update the processes.
Because, hey, you're not- as a city, it isn't conducive [01:50:30] to say we want
people to participate, we want people to know what's going on when it's so difficult
to find the information in the first place that it's easier for someone to Facebook
message me, when is your meeting and where's your agenda than it is for them to
find it themselves, which happens to me monthly to this day.
I just add, uh, piggyback onto that. So um, I think 100 percent you're on the right
track with like in- in like, sort of, investigating what does the city have to offer you
because they also do production. So like you could be making videos. [01:51:00] You
could- I mean, you should ask about Facebook live events. You should, I mean,
there's- there as, um, Commissioner Nobiss has pointed out, like you have people
ready to do this, you just need to like i- investigate like who is that? At what extent?
Um- because they do- you know they have PA TV, and they have like all of these
other platforms, um, that may be available to you. So I'm just going to say maybe
cliff and Eric, you guys are nodding your heads, like you want to do this.
[OVERLAPPING] I said that a long time ago. I said that if we- we go back and watch
the YouTube [01:51:30] videos from way back when we first started, that's exactly
what I was saying right then. So I mean, same thing [OVERLAPPING].
And that I've heard- and I've heard people I think we had- I think that it went in our
last meeting there was a person that "I'm having trouble either seeing what's going
on there. I don't even know what's going on, so [inaudible 01:51:46]
[OVERLAPPING]"
It's the transcripts. That's- that's what she was looking for.
So it sounds like, um, Mohamed has volunteered to lead this commission and I'll help
him. Is there anyone else right now that wants to join on- in on this?
Sikowis is in.
Yeah.
I'd [01:52:00] like to help [OVERLAPPING] I'm- I'm a really great graphic designer, so
I'd love to help.
Yeah, he's good.
Yeah. That's great. Uh, so yes, Annie.
What I'd like to suggest is, as you guys are meeting and you notice what the city
services are going to provide and what you don't have to purchase. But if you notice
things like T-shirts or other things that you would want, it's possible for you to
propose. I believe you can check with Stephanie like a modification [01:52:30] and
amendment to the proposal at the next meetings with something that- very general,
like a $10,000 for local folks.
Okay.
Something for media.
Good to know.
Yeah, you just let us know-.
Yeah.
For marketing if you want us to add that in, if you need to.
Awesome. Well, um, I- go ahead, I'm sorry.
Yeah. That committee, uh, on Eve, I- I was laughing, not be- it's funny, [01:53:00]
but at the same time, it's sad. Accessing even our meetings to a lot of people. A lot
of people want to access and follow us, but it's so complex. And I'm like we're in
2020 and technology and also access the council because I mean, we're a
commission of the city, but it's accessing it. Even for me who is a little, uh, yeah. So
the other people, they're like we can never find you, we can never find the
meetings, [01:53:30] we can never. And I'm not a conspiracist, but I'm like, is it a
setup that it's supposed to be inaccessible? It's supposed to ju- you're supposed to
jump so many hoops. Today, when other things, my two-year-old grand baby is able
to access even my work if I'm not careful. So yeah. So that committee I'll- I'll stop
with my words. I think I've passed with the point there that they look into [01:54:00]
that and accessibility and maybe this also going to Stephanie because- thank you for
bringing it here. It's- it's sad even if we laughed. Yeah, the other thing on outreach.
Now that we're talking about things that we can do. Are we allowed, for example, if
you're invited by an organization to- to talk about our work, about the commission
as part of Outreach, are we allowed to do that?
That's not [01:54:30] my decision. That's our decision. So I mean.
Yeah.
I don't see why not.
Because right now for next month, the refugee Alliance has always wanted- oh
Johnson County and Lynn County, they've always wanted to know or to- to invite us
and to talk about what we're doing and what we're about. So that's one of the
organizations I can hit.
For me that goes into the branding piece [01:55:00] however, though, um, as there's
that question of what you can't say or what you should be saying when representing
the group in situations like that. So uh, getting that basis of- of what we're, you
know, going to agree on, hey, this is what the commission is, this is what the
commission is not. And also having the caveat of when you're speaking to those
groups, if there's things that you're saying that are more personal opinion rather
than full you know commissioner opinion, be sure to say, "I'm saying this as a
member of the commission," when it's [01:55:30] you know something we've all
agreed on and if it's something we haven't making sure you're also saying, "Um,
saying this uh, as a matter of my own opinion, not something that the commission
itself has agreed upon as a whole," so that people aren't getting all of that
misconstrued. Yeah
And I'll add to that a little bit because he right. Um, just like when I went and spoke
to the school workers, it was basically the text that we passed in a resolution that I
went to speak to them about and we all pass that as a whole. And that's what- so
what he's saying is exactly right. So you can't really say, [01:56:00] "I'm speaking for
the TRC," but we didn't- the whole- as a whole didn't pass it. So when I went to
speak at the Catholic Workhouse it was something that we passed as a whole.
And I would add that I think that's something that, um, I don't- I don't wanna
discourage people from talking about the TRC because we cannot get- we need as
much as possible, but, um, I'm hoping that something that proposal team can help
us workshop, um, so that we do have that correct brand as we're moving forward,
that we're all on the same page. This is something that's very important to me in my
own job. [01:56:30] Um, it's like everyone's going to tell their own personal story,
but it all needs to line up so that's my own two sense with that. So I don't know if
that answers your questions, but please if-
Yes, it has, I'm hearing a script, uh, a script developing that we can speak from.
Yeah.
The only other thing I want to say is, um, while we, ah, just created the commission
with me, Mohamed, and Commissioner, um, Nobiss, and I see your hands up, um,
Commissioner Iva, I did not see that now- until now, [01:57:00] um, please everyone
else if you have any ideas for this commiss- uh, this committee to please send it to
us. Don't think that just because you're in committee that you have no say in this.
This is our whole team efforts. We're just going to try to put something together to
bring back to us. I think that is very important. Um, Sikowis, if you'd like to speak
again.
Yeah. I'm- I just- I'm a little confused. So, um, people right now are taking on
speaking engagements and talking about the commission. Is that correct?
[01:57:30] I don't know if we necessarily just agree to that. It was a question of what
can we do next. I don't know that.
Or- or people just- okay. I'm just saying it seems problematic if, um, you know the
commission doesn't want to move forward with passing, um, a resolution to, uh, you
know, just say yes to this, um, current, um, iteration of the budget for fear of
whatever, then why would anybody be [01:58:00] publicly speaking on behalf of the
commission either? So I guess I'm just bringing up that issue, um.
I mean, I don't think it's a problem myself. You know, I'm just wondering, you know,
where is our gray area there, are people speaking on behalf of the Commission,
talking about Commission stuff right now? Like if so, we should probably talk about
that.
Yeah. So that's been happening already. Um, like Commissioner Harris mentioned
with the excluded workers fund, we, uh, as a commission we haven't necessarily,
[01:58:30] um, made very many recommendations or statements, but for those that
we have, I think that people have, um, felt comfortable and I felt comfortable with
them going ahead and kind of being the mouthpiece for those recommendations.
Um, but I'm willing to hear if other people think that's inappropriate.
I- I don t think it's inappropriate, I just think it's hypocritical to vote no, um, to move
forward on this budget and yet also be out in the public doing- representing the
commission that use- that is in shambles apparently.
Can I [01:59:00] ask a clarifying question then? Um, do you think that we shouldn't
be, um, representing like any of our past recommendations?
No, we should be. Um, absolutely I just think that it's hypocritical to say that we're
not like, ah, put together enough then to also- like if we're going to be outward
facing and talking to the public about stuff we're doing, then why are we also just,
you know, moving forward with everything else? That's what I'm saying. So it's just,
you know, it's kind of strange to me. It seems like, [01:59:30] um, you know, we're
either all in for something or not for something. And I'm all for passing this budget
and for, you know, speaking to the public. Because through this- this reconciliation
process that's going to be take- happening is gonna take awhile, and in the
meantime I'm not willing to, um, let the commission just kind of sit and stagnate.
I hear what you're saying, um, Commissioners Sikowis. Um, as far as I- I- as far as I
understood the suggested presentation is [02:00:00] a little bit out, it's not, um, we
have some time to resolve some of the issues, uh, before it was possibly proposed
that we would go represent ourselves, ah, but I do hear what you're saying.
Um, I want to respond to that just briefly. Um, when- if I go out in public, I speak
about the TRC, um, is not on my own, um, we pass a resolution and I just wanted to
educate them what their resolution works, um, [02:00:30] that's- that's nor or
neither connected to a budget at all. And we pass that- we've already passed that
agenda items, so, um, we voted on it and if you were here I think it was a unanimous
vote. And that's the only thing I will speak on. I would never go out and say, hey, you
know, this person- I've avoided media for the past two weeks because I don't want
to go out and speak on my own. So I just want to make sure that- that you know that
we pass a resolution, um, I needed to go get what we pass translated and [02:01:00]
that's why I went to speak to the exclusive workers.
Thank you for clarifying.
Does anyone else have anything else to say on this agenda item?
I'm just responding to Sikowis. My question was-
You might want to put the microphone closer to you.
Yeah. Ah, it was a question on- on- because it's an invite from an organization in the
community. And so [02:01:30] my question was, is this something that we are
allowed to do? Yeah.
Okay. Well, thank you for everyone's discussion on this. If everyone agrees, I'd like
to move on to the next agenda item. Okay. Um so the next agenda item is next
meeting September 15th at 07:00 PM and I actually asked to have this put on there
because I will not be there, [02:02:00] and so I would need to, ah, nominate
someone else to run the meeting. I'm not sure if I have to do public comment on
this.
I- I think if you're not going to allow public comment on something that the public
should know as part of the agenda. But I mean, I do- don't, I mean-
I mean, I can. I just-
Yeah. I mean.
Sorry. I just don't understand what the protocol is, but I can open it up to public
comment [02:02:30] [LAUGHTER] about this agenda item is- there's anyone online
that wants to comment on this? Please go ahead. And I also open up to people in the
public here right now. All right.
I think it's depressing to see democracy locked up their standstill.
Thank you. Um, so I will, ah, if, does anyone have an opinion on this? Otherwise, I'm
going to nominate someone.
I think that is your choice, I don't think this, you know, [02:03:00] for the 15th, I'm
just going to say I can't be nominated because I'm going to have to do a reload. I
have other engagements.
Okay. Then I'm going to nominate- oh, sorry.
No. I'll just volunteer myself out.
Okay.
Yeah.
Go ahead.
Yeah. I volunteer myself out of chairing the meeting [OVERLAPPING].
Out off.
Yes. Out.
Okay.
I can do it. I- I- I should say about it soon. I was-
I was going to nominate Kevo-
That's- that's- that's [OVERLAPPING]
-if [02:03:30] they would like to do so. Okay, um, if anyone has any issues with this,
speak now or forever hold your peace.
Talk to me about it. [LAUGHTER]
I second your nomination if there's something like that.
Do we need to do a vote on that?
There's a vote on the floor now, so Commissioner Ali?
Yes.
Commissioner Dillard?
Yes.
Commissioner Gathua?
Yes.
She said.
Yes oh, no.
I didn't hear it fine.
Yes- yes.
Commissioner Johnson?
Yes.
Commissioner [02:04:00] Harris?
Yes.
Commissioner Nobiss?
Yes.
Um, Commissioner Rivera?
Yep.
And Commissioner Traore?
Yes.
It's in past 8 to 1.
Awesome, I don t think we have to have any other discussion on this unless anyone?
I think so.
No, just let it be known that Ms. Rachel [OVERLAPPING].
I'm sorry sir, but we- we're not- we- we actually have no more public comments right
now. So, uh, thank you so much for being here.
Racial slurs don't bother me.
Okay.
I've heard some names.
Okay. [02:04:30] Anyway-
I seconded that. I'm sorry, I missed the vote.
Who second it?
Yeah.
Was it [OVERLAPPING]
I did.
It was Wangui.
I did.
Okay, thank you.
Um so, um, agenda an- agenda Item Number 9. I will- who wants to go first? If that's
announcements and I guess actually I'm going to go to the staff. No announcements
from staff. Anyone wants to go first?
I don't want to go first, but I do [OVERLAPPING]
I'll make an announcement. [02:05:00] Um, uh, we, um, are in the midst of putting
together a- a truthsgiving event, um, which will be held on November 11th at the
Englert and, um, I would encourage everybody to go to truthsgiving.org, so you can,
um, understand what that means. Uh it's an alternative celebration to Thanksgiving,
uh, which, um, perpetuates harmful stereotypes, and a [02:05:30] whitewashed
mythology of true history. And so, um, Great Plains has been doing a truthsgiving
event for years like seven years now, and this is our first really big event, we've
partnered with the Englert and we're bringing in, um, a really great band called the
Audio Pharmacy, I would also encourage folks to check out, um, Audio Pharmacy and
their songs Solidarity on YouTube. And, um, there'll be speakers, um, from
[02:06:00] the community, myself included, ah, and Andre Wright, um, Demeter
Brown, and other indigenous speakers, drummers, um, and, um, singers and, ah,
possibly jingle dress dancers. So it's going to be a really nice evening and, um, I just-
just want people to keep an eye out for that, ah, upcoming event. Can you say the
date one more time please?
November 11th.
Okay.
[02:06:30] I'm telling everybody kind of soon, but I mean, it's like it's finally
happening, so I'm just going to start talking about it. [LAUGHTER]
Oh, did you see at time. Sikowis.
No, there's no time specified yet. It'll be in the evening, I'm sure.
Okay. Um, if everyone's okay I'll go ahead with some announcements. Um, first I-
um, I sent- I've been sending this out to everyone, but my organization is doing a
future-ready survey and I really just would [02:07:00] love everyone's help in getting
this information. I work for the neighborhood centers at Johnson County, as you all
know. And we work with a huge um, amount of immigrant and refugee families as
well as new islands. People are not around here, not from here. And um, if you didn't
know, we got a new executive director and a new associate director and they
together are a dynamic duo of the first in what we believe ever to be uh,
organization led by African-American women, um, for a legacy organization
[02:07:30] here. And that's very exciting. And the first thing that they want to do is
get information about how we can make this community better. Um, so if you could
help me out in our organization out, in our community, out by forwarding to whoever
you know that lives in Johnson County, that'd be wonderful. We're trying to get to
2,000 people. There's even an incentive. You can get $100 possibly [LAUGHTER] if
you uh, fill it out with your name. Um, it's just very important. We want to do what's
best for the community. And I- I truly believe in that. [02:08:00] Um, and these are
also families that I'm hoping one day we will be able to- to talk to with their truths in
the future. Um, another thing is I announced this before, but um, I'm going to be
gone next time because it'll be the rehearsal before my musical Little Shop of
Horrors. Uh, I want to invite anyone and everyone to come out. I will be excited to
see you and also nervous. Um, but it's going to be very fun and exciting. And if you'd
like theater, um, it'll be a good time. It's at the core of little Performing [02:08:30]
Arts um, Theater, um,16th, 17th, 18th, and then the weekend after the 24th, uh, the
23rd, 24th, and 25th, uh, tickets are on sale. And um, let me know if you have any
questions. So that's all I have. Anyone else wants to go?
I'll go. Uh, a couple of quick announcements uh, before I go on to other things as
well. [02:09:00] Uh, I personally won't be here next meeting only because we are
going to uh, at my gym we are going to be helping out, uh, rock-study. We have a
rock-study program that helps fight against Parkinson's disease. And we're going to
go out there and actually train people out there, uh, throughout the United States
that were representing Iowa out there uh, over in Denver. So with that being said,
uh, moving on to the next one. Next [02:09:30] one is, uh, we have uh, our- our, uh
Level 1 and level 2 official certification clinic, uh, USA boxing. So if you are a fan of
the sport at all and you don't actually want to actually participate in a sport, you
have multiple means of uh, being apart and one is being official, a judge, a
timekeeper, a referee of any sort like that. So if uh, anybody's interested, we will
have that at 10:00 AM to [02:10:00] 5:00 PM Saturday, September 10th, uh, and
that's- that's open to everyone in a city. Uh we are trying to get as many people in
as possible uh, which leads on to the next announcement is because we are going to
have the first uh, state tournament in years uh, here in Iowa City, which is a big deal
because uh, we haven't had one for 20 years and just uh, Iowa city needs more good
activities, [02:10:30] fun activities that are family friendly. All those events that
we've thrown so far have been phenomenal. Everybody who's volunteered word
board, I would like to thank them right here, right now and uh, had a lot of positive-
pos- positivity coming from, so ah, our hope that it can branch off a little bit more
for everybody else. That leads also into the next one. We are also uh, with that state
tournament that we're bringing in. We have fought vigorously to try to get the
Golden Gloves. [02:11:00] I don't know if everybody's familiar with the Golden
Gloves uh, in amateur boxing, but we have been fighting to get the Golden Gloves to
save it. We almost lost it as a franchise here in the state of Iowa, and uh, we saved
it. And now that we've saved it, what we're trying to do is bring it right here to Iowa
City. It has never been done before. It's only been into Moyne uh, and Cedar Rapids,
I believe. But that was like, I think way back in 80s or something like that where Roy
Jones was on there, uh, from what I remember- if I [02:11:30] remember correctly.
So we are fighting to bring out the Golden Gloves here to Iowa, uh, for the spring.
Things keep going in this direction uh, we will be bringing it right here to the heart of
the city and that will be a major event, a great franchise to bring to the city and
hopefully, it can be permanent. So, uh, that being said, I'm going to step that off to
the side and go back to a few more important issues. I think that we need to have a
code of conduct. [02:12:00] Uh, I believe a code of conduct would help us out
tremendously, uh, with moving forward because a level of professionalism and what
we're doing is extremely important. Uh, a code of conduct, meaning we have a
certain level of respect for each other, that we're not- not only not talking over each
other, cutting each other off or getting into our feelings I'll say uh, a code of conduct
[02:12:30] meaning, even outside of being in this commission here. As a
professional, my personal opinion and what I've read and learned about more uh, a
professional is representing a company, let's say. You got to make sure that you're
carrying yourself one way everywhere. If you're not carrying yourself one way you
can harm the company. I came up with analogy earlier about it. If I was a lawyer and
I did something that was wrong [02:13:00] towards my uh, that uh, if I did
something wrong and, uh, it affected my company, I would be fired. It just- is what it
is because we have a bigger picture. We have things that we need to square away
and take care of, a code of conduct for us to kind of agree on I feel like wouldn't hurt
us and it would only help us, uh. So I would hope that- that was one thing that I
wanted to put on an agenda earlier. There's a couple of other things, but uh, right
now that's only one that's coming to my mind. [02:13:30] I hope that we can figure
that out and maybe possibly put that on the next agenda so it- we can kind of set a
precedent, so we don't have these issues, not just with us, but with other groups as
well too. We do this, if we make sure we kind of hold each other accountable, I feel
like that makes things a little bit easier and the whole goal is to get jobs done and
not uh, create blockages. So with that being said, uh, I yield. [02:14:00]
Any other commissioners that want to share announcements?
So an update on the restorative justice process, um, that I talked to counsel about.
Um, Mayor Tege's giving me, um, the Board of Supervisors, September schedule. I
can't move forward, um, with any mediation process until I know what the available
dates are. Um, I have [02:14:30] a Zoom meeting with Jodie Geddes tomorrow who,
uh, works with Oakland Youth and as a mediator and participates in circles and
Oakland to all of the time and is becoming a dear friend. Uh, but, ah, Jodie has
connections to specifically black women, um, who are mediators. I think that's really
important for that process. Uh, and Annie, I loved all of your advice that you gave
me regarding it. But I think to do it the right way, it [02:15:00] needs to be done,
um, by a completely neutral third party, um, and a black woman as well. Um, so
that's that process. It's September 1st. They'll probably get her schedule, um,
anytime within the next week. Um, so with that being said, I know that, um, you
guys are frustrated, confused, angry, upset. Um, I can't go back and change the last-
or the last TRC meeting, [02:15:30] um, but if I could, I would have been here. Um, I
didn't think mentally I could handle it at the time, but obviously like now, reflecting
on things, I think that, um, it probably just would have been better to show up, um,
and like sit in the discomfort because I think that that's the only way that we can
grow. Um, I don't know how many of you guys saw all of the council meetings, um,
regarding the situation. Ah, there were three separate apologies and
accountabilities, um, that [02:16:00] I took. I also may not have- from hearing
reflections from you guys, maybe I- I didn't emphasize or I wasn't cognizant of the
fact that I needed to be more vocal about, um, the harm that I may have caused the
TRC. Um, so I want to apologize for that, um, and the lack of communication
regarding everything, um, because this is really messy for lack of a better term.
There's a lot of people that I'm having to communicate [02:16:30] and try to figure
things out with and try to get information from to try to figure out how to do this the
right way like it's not just me texting Mayor Tege, who is texting, you know, Roy San.
It's a much larger process, um, that I really think needs to be taken very delicately
and seriously because I think that it is bigger than both of us. Um, so with that
situation, there's like a lot [02:17:00] to unpack. Um, obviously, we saw how tonight
went, um, and I know obvi- like I'm coming from the place that I understand that I'm
not taking anything like that you said in ways to hurt me. Like I understand that I've
hurt you and I've probably, um, taken some trust from you. So I'm not going to take
anything personally as far as what was said tonight, um, and I'm willing to sit in that
discomfort inset [02:17:30] and let you guys tell me how you feel. I- I welcome that,
but I- I can't welcome that in this space. I can't welcome that type of- it's not fair to
any of us. Um, it's not fair to, um, the community as a whole and I just think one big
thing was having a safe space. I feel like that was reiterated a lot in the last
meeting. Um, [02:18:00] so I want that example, um, I wanna struggle with you guys
for the sake of something that's larger than ourselves. Um, and I really believe that if
we're honest and direct with each other while holding compassion for one another,
uh, I think it's when we all take responsibility for our feelings and actions and try to
find deeper understanding before we respond. Um, and deeper understanding might
look like asking questions, [02:18:30] reading the reference materials. Um, but
would we consider like a given organization formation or space, may or not- may or
may not be, uh, this space to hold that we need to bring. Um, and that side
conversation within our space should be for the sake of better understanding rather
than like checking out of the work. Um, when we aren't mindful about principles
struggle, [02:19:00] um, we can end up caught in this reductionist group thinking
and it proliferates online and here and in the media and it's rooted in, and it
heightens, um, our offline discomfort in cases of like disagreement, indifference and
community accountability and restorative justice in cases of harms and in the big
long term cases of harm and abuse. Um, so I'm totally willing, [02:19:30] open,
ready for that conversation to happen. I just think that like there really needs to be
thought on like whatever sort of justice circle really looks like in this space. And, um,
I'm going to invite you all to reach out to Angie because I have a deep conversation
with her about what that would look like last night. Um, but I do want to end my
statement with, um, a quote, um, and I think that this is really important for us
[02:20:00] to remember in the big picture. Um, it's Audre Lorde. "You do not have to
be me in order for us to fight alongside each other. I do not have to be you to
recognize that our wars are the same. What we must do is commit to ourselves to
some future that can include each other and to work towards that future with our
particular strengths of our individual identities. And in order to do this, we must
allow each other our differences [02:20:30] at the same time as we recognize our
sameness." And with that, I yield to the floor.
Thank you. Is there anyone else who would like to share?
Uh, just two things. We all got, uh, the little book of restorative justice today and also
practical guide to planning collaborative initiatives advance racial equity from the
divided community projects out of the Ohio State University. Um, my announcement
is just I would like each commissioner to actually take the [02:21:00] time to review
these materials on their own time, uh, as you're available. Not saying a specific date,
you need to have it done by, but, uh, I think it'd be great to by the first, uh, meeting
in October, if everyone could at least get through at minimum half of the restorative
justice book and looks at by the end of October, at least finish it. Um, I would say
sooner, but again, you know, I don't know what everyone has on their plate time-
wise. But if we're going to keep talking about restorative justice and really getting
into this process, it's important [02:21:30] to actually read some of these materials
and these other perspectives. And same thing with the guide from the divided
community project. Uh, it's very extensive. It's about 50- 253 pages in total. So it's
something that, uh, over a span of 30 days, uh, say if you took 25 of the days, um, it
took at about two pages at a time, could get through it without really, you know,
bringing a lot of extra effort on yourself. So I'm just saying it that way, you know, we
can do in dunks or whatever it is. But these next, [02:22:00] you know, 4-8 weeks,
let's look to review some of these materials in our own time. So we have a little bit
more of that background, more things to bring into discussions, and then just more
of our own personal expertise.
Thank you, everyone, is there anyone else?
Quick. Um, September is National Suicide Awareness month. Um, as you might
know, uh, people of color, indigenous folks are at increased risk of mental health
crises and struggles and deaths by suicide. So, um, as leaders [02:22:30] within the
BIPOC community here in Iowa, I hope that, um, uh, you just kinda keep in mind, uh,
how you can destigmatize, um, seeking mental health help, uh, in the spheres of
influence that you have, live on your people. Thanks.
Is there anyone else? Okay. I just wanna say thank you all for being here tonight, for
giving your time and- and breathing with us. I know it's been a little bit difficult,
[02:23:00] but, um, we are all here and dedicated to this important process. So I
really appreciate everyone. And to also reit- reiterate, um, I'm listening to the book
and I would love to sit down and discuss with people as we're all learning together
on this journey. So I'll be in touch with everyone, but let's all be in touch with each
other as we're at different levels and learning. So with that motion to adjourn.
Second.
All right.