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Home My WebLink AboutTRC Agenda 7 18 2024Ad Hoc Truth and Reconciliation Commission Thursday, July 18, 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 JUNE 20, 2024 5.NEXT STEPS FOR PHASE THREE AND FOUR 6.ANNOUNCEMENTS OF COMMISSIONERS 7.ANNOUNCEMENTS OF STAFF 8.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 June 20, 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, Lauren Merritt. Commissioners on Zoom: Lubna Mohamed, Wangui Gathua. Commissioners not present: Chad Simmons, Kayla Rossi. Staff present: Redmond Jones. Recommendation to City Council: No. Meeting called to order: 7:16 PM Reading of Land Acknowledgement: Tassinary read the Land Acknowledgement. Approval of minutes from May 16, 2024: Tassinary moved, and Johnson seconded. Motion passed 6-0. Changing meeting schedule to once a month: Merritt suggested leaving the option of having two meetings a month with the option to cancel the second meeting if it is not needed. Mohamed suggested keeping two meetings a month for August then moving to one meeting in September. Johnson agreed to test out the idea and revisit the discussion later on. It was agreed to cancel the meeting scheduled for July 4th. Kiche expressed the importance of the subcommittees putting in the work to make up for the lost meeting time. The commission agreed to revisit the discussion at the last August meeting. Reflection on City Council Work Session held on May 21, 2024: Dillard reflected on the meeting with City Council sharing the presentation was met with a lot of questions and that there were conversations had with other commissions and council members following the meeting. The general consensus for the request to increase the commissions budget was “not right now.” Kiche shared his experience with the council sharing he voiced his concerns about the TRC’s progress and budget. Tassinary shared that the council wanted to “see more” before allocating additional funds. Merritt asked if there was any mention of allowing a smaller amount to help the commission continue hosting small-scale events. Dillard answered that there may be some allowance for small, one-off events. The commissioners discussed what the future of additional events and budgeting might look like, including submitting proposals for events and funds moving forward. Merritt expressed the need for council to provide parameters to the commission in order for them to perform successfully while working with little to no budget. Jones suggested to give council a heads-up before submitting a budget proposal and provided advice for the time-frame in which the commission would have to submit a request to council to then be included on the agenda of the council’s next meeting happening July 16th. Next steps for phase three and four: Tassinary shared his idea to regroup and rethink what is possible for the commission to accomplish with the time they have left (until December). Tassinary 2 suggested to propose to council what is expected to happen in the commission’s next phase (after December), focusing on the topics of truth-telling and systemic racism. This new approach would include a subcommittee or third party that would routinely collect information from the community, working with experts to focus on Iowa City policies and procedures that are examples of systemic racism, and the commission itself receiving this information and sharing it with council on a quarterly basis to show first-hand what the community faces and what the commission is looking to change. Tassinary also suggested that the commission help with names for public places and monuments that acknowledge the origins of the commission (BLM and the killing of George Floyd). Kiche and Johnson expressed support for the new approach suggested by Tassinary. Johnson also spoke on the idea of small groups, broken up by specific topics to focus on, that can later come together to compile information that can be broken down and presented to council in a concise manner. Dillard spoke about having a model-group (the Black Community) for the commission to focus its efforts on in order to show council how their work affects a particular group and how it can continue to extend beyond one demographic, person, or group. Dillard also brought up the future of the commission and what it would like to extend the life of the commission past their December deadline and how to keep their efforts from fizzling out. Gathua asked for more information on the connection of witnessing and the commission’s charge and more budgeting details. Dillard clarified the continuing efforts of the commission would be without additional budgeting provided by council and to take a more grassroots approach by focusing on community engagement. Kiche spoke about expectations for community engagement moving forward and the need for the willingness to act and listen. The commissioners continued to discuss ideas on how to compile information moving forward and what communities they want to approach to gather information while considering budget and timeline. Johnson commented that this approach allows the commission to provide a detailed proposal to council and Gathua suggested providing specifics on the timeline and activities in order to receive help from the council. Commissioners discussed the possibility of hiring a writer or finding an intern that would be able to help with the new plan and writing that into the budget proposal. Jones agreed to help look into hiring help. Dillard expressed the importance of documenting the work of the commission and finishing the work of the documentation the commission has already paid for. Tassinary suggested a subcommittee meeting to finalize a budget proposal. Dillard asked commissioner willing to meet outside of the scheduled meetings to be present and those who cannot make additional meetings to send ideas and suggestions over email. Annie Tucker spoke to the commission thanking them for their efforts. Announcements of commissioners: None. Announcements of staff: None. The meeting adjourned at 8:46 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 6/20 7/18 Dillard 12/31/24 Z P 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 Z Kiche 12/31/24 - - - P 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 P Merritt 12/31/24 P Z P P Z P P P P P P A P Muhamed 12/31/24 - - - - - - - - - - - Z Z Simmons 12/31/24 P P P P P P P A P Z P P A Tassinary 12/31/24 P A P P P P P P P A P P P Rossi 12/31/24 - - - - - - - - - - - - A P = Present in person A = Absent Z = Zoom Late Handouts