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Home My WebLink AboutTRC Agenda 6 20 2024Ad Hoc Truth and Reconciliation Commission Thursday, June 20, 2024 Regular Meeting 7 PM – Emma Harvat Hall, City Hall 410 E. Washington Street AGENDA: 1.CALL TO ORDER 2.READING OF NATIVE AMERICAN LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT 3.PUBLIC COMMENT OF ITEMS NOT ON THE AGENDA (COMMISSIONERS SHALL NOT ENGAGE IN DISCUSSION WITH THE PUBLIC CONCERNING SAID ITEMS.) 5 MINUTE MAXIMUM FOR EACH SPEAKER. Only in-person comments will be allowed for Public Comment. Public comment for specific agenda items, which must be directly related to that agenda item, may be made in-person or remotely. 4.APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES FROM MAY 16, 2024 5.CHANGING MEETING SCHEDULE TO ONCE A MONTH 6.REFLECTION ON CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION HELD ON MAY 21 AND THE REQUEST FOR ADDITIONAL FUNDS 7.NEXT STEPS FOR PHASE THREE AND FOUR 8.ANNOUNCEMENTS OF COMMISSIONERS 9.ANNOUNCEMENTS OF STAFF 10.ADJOURNMENT In order to encourage input from the public, the Commission intends to offer the opportunity to participate in the meeting remotely. However, this meeting is in-person, and those wishing to ensure their ability to participate should attend the meeting in-person. If you instead wish to participate remotely, you may attempt to do so by joining the below link. First Thursday Meetings ID: 867 2424 8095 Third Thursday Meetings ID: 895 3695 0485 If you have no computer or smartphone, or a computer without a microphone, you can call in by phone by dialing (312) 626-6799 and entering the meeting ID when prompted. Individuals with disabilities are encouraged to attend all City of Iowa City-sponsored events. If you are a person with a disability who requires a reasonable accommodation in order to participate in these events, please contact the Office of Equity and Human Rights at 319-356-5022 or humanrights@iowa-city.org. 1 May 16, 2024 Draft Ad Hoc Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) Minutes Emma Harvat Hall, City Hall Commissioners present: Amos Kiche, Cliff Johnson, Louis Tassinary, Chad Simmons, Chastity Dillard. Commissioners on Zoom: Lubna Mohamed. Commissioners not present: Wangui Gathua, Lauren Merritt. Staff present: Redmond Jones, Stefanie Bowers. Recommendation to City Council: No. Meeting called to order: 7:06 Reading of Land Acknowledgement: Tassinary read the Land Acknowledgement. Approval of minutes from May 2, 2024: Tassinary moved, and Johnson seconded. Motion passed 6-0. Facilitators final report: Commissioner Simmons commented that he does not believe the final report should be sent to City Council. Simmons stated the final report made by the facilitators could be used to aid the Commission in creating their own final report due to the fact he believes the report only records half the work the TRC is looking to accomplish. Commissioner Dillard and Kiche agreed with the need to include more information in its final report. Commissioner Tassinary agreed with the need for additional information for a final report, but asked whether there were contractual obligations that would require the TRC to submit the facilitators final report. Simmons recommended that a letter be submitted to City Council acknowledging the facilitator’s final report along with a message that there is additional work to report on in the future. Commissioners Tassinary and Johnson agreed with moving forward with submitting a letter. Dillard volunteered to write a letter that would later be shared with the Commission before submitting. It was agreed that the information going into the letter would include acknowledging the facilitator report and work/ information provided to the TRC and that the Commission will continue to consider that information as they continue to work based on their charter. Commissioner Kiche suggested asking Think Peace for a letter that considers their thoughts on the training program and what they saw went well and what did not. Commissioner Tassinary shared that he felt there was a disconnect in information within the report, which Commissioner Dillard suggested reconciling with their own data in a final report. It was agreed amongst Commissioners that there needs to be more specifics when it comes to questions and answers regarding data that would lead to policy recommendations for a final report. Redmond Jones confirmed it would be acceptable to explain to City Council that the report made by the facilitators is an addition to the work that the TRC is doing rather than the final data on the work that has been done. 2 Commissioner Tassinary volunteered to work through the facilitator’s report to find ways to incorporate it moving forward. Commissioner Kiche also volunteered to help with the task. Request for additional funds from City Council: Commissioner Simmons told Commissioners and staff that the two payments made to Cocoa Creative Agency that came off the TRC budget should be paid off of the City Manager budget because they were requests to the Agency from City staff and not a member of the TRC. Commissioner Kiche reviewed the current budget and spending, noting there are no resources left for spending and future projects. Kiche provided Commissioners with a general expense report with an overview of possible fund allocations if additional money is granted. Along with the budget, the Commission considered the amount of time left for work to be done. A previous discussion on cutting back on the total number of topics/ areas to cover in the remaining six months was revisited. It was suggested to cut back on the number of topics to focus on due to a lack of time and resources. Commissioner Kiche brought up concerns that the Commission may be falling short to their commitment to implement change in the community. Commissioner Dillard believes there is still work to be done beyond the six-month period, which is what they hope to convince the City Council to keep the Commission going beyond the contractual end-date. Upcoming Presentation to City Council: The next opportunity for the Commission to present to City Council is the 4th or the 18th of June. Simmons questioned why there still has not been a vote by City Council to consider additional funding to the TRC. Commissioners discussed their concerns with the Commission’s budget and staff went over how the Commission operates under the rules of the City and City Council. Commissioner Simmons stated he would be making public comments at the next City Council meeting to bring up the concerns of budget and the future of the TRC. Commissioner Dillard suggested each Commissioner speak at the next City Council meeting during public comment to share their personal perspectives. Commissioner Kiche suggested providing a business model to the City Council in regards to increasing the budget in order for them to understand where and why the money will be used. Commissioner Dillard suggested that each commissioner reach out to six of the seven current City Council members. Commissioner Johnson agreed to reach out to Mayor Teague, Commissioner Kiche agreed to reach out to Mayor Pro Tem Salih, Commissioner Dillard will reach out to Councilmembers Alter and Dunn, Commissioner Tassianry will reach out to Councilmember Shawn Harmsen, Commissioner Simmons will reach out to Councilmember Moe. Commissioner Simmons suggested for Commissioners to ask councilmembers to support a vote for the use of additional funds as soon as possible. Commissioner Mohamed will join commissioner Johnson in meeting with the Mayor. Commissioner Simmons shared a presentation he put together Commissioner reviewed and made suggestions of what to include from this report when it comes to talking to City Council and sharing the document with them. Commissioner Kiche suggested to add some more details that would allow the City Council to see the general direction in which the TRC is headed without cornering the Commission and their efforts moving forward. 3 Next steps for phase three and four: It was suggested to get involved in community spaces like the Farmers Market, the Diversity Markets, and churches. It was also shared that a community member volunteered to provide up to 15 hours a week to assist the TRC with its work. The Commission considered different roles this person could help with including project management and data reporting. It was agreed to discuss further about ways to get involved and recognized in the community for future projects. Announcements of commissioners: None. Announcements of staff: None. The meeting adjourned at 9:46 PM. The full meeting video can be viewed at this link. AD HOC TRUTH & RECONCILIATION COMMISSION ATTENDANCE RECORD YEAR 2024 (Meeting Date) NAME TERM EXP. 1/4 1/25 2/1 2/15 3/7 3/14 3/18 3/20 3/21 4/4 5/2 5/16 6/6 6/20 7/18 Dillard 12/31/24 Z P P P P P P P P P P P Gathua 12/31/24 P P P P A P P P P P A A Kiche 12/31/24 - - - P P P P P P P P P Johnson 12/31/24 A P P P P P P P P P P P Vacant 12/31/24 - - - - - - - - - - - - Merritt 12/31/24 P Z P P Z P P P P P P A Muhamed 12/31/24 Z Z Z A A A A P P R R Z Simmons 12/31/24 P P P P P P P A P Z P P Tassinary 12/31/24 P A P P P P P P P A P P P = Present in person A = Absent Z = Zoom