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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTRC Agenda 8 15 2024Ad Hoc Truth and Reconciliation Commission Thursday, August 15, 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 August 1, 2024 5.NEXT STEPS FOR PHASE THREE AND FOUR INCLUDING UPCOMINGEVENTS AND ENGAGEMENT 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 August 1, 2024 Draft Ad Hoc Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) Minutes Emma Harvat Hall, City Hall Commissioners present: Amos Kiche, Cliff Johnson, Chastity Dillard, Lauren Merritt, Louis Tassinary. Commissioners on Zoom: Lubna Mohamed, Wangui Gathua. Commissioners not present: Kayla Rossi, Chad Simmons. Staff present: Geoff Fruin, Stefanie Bowers. Recommendation to City Council: No. Meeting called to order: 7:20 PM Reading of Land Acknowledgement: Merritt read the Land Acknowledgement. Approval of minutes from July 18, 2024: Merritt moved, and Tassinary seconded. Motion passed 7-0. Public comment of items not on the agenda: Maha Muhamed brought up the concern of landlords not accepting Housing Choice Vouchers (Section 8). The rejection by so many landlords has affected many families. Muhamed offered some solutions. One solution was to provide the total rent assistance to the tenant and not the landlord to avoid late rent charges. Another solution was to split units that allow a certain number of apartments to be used for section 8 housing and the rest remain as standard units. The final recommendation was a long-term solution of buying/ providing land that would allow for specialized housing to be built strictly for section 8 housing by the city. Next steps for phase three and four: Dillard spoke of upcoming events she would like the commission to attend and asked for commissioners to volunteer for tabling at them. Johnson and Kiche volunteered for National Night Out being held on August 6. Another event is the End of Summer Jam at Willow Creek Park on Saturday, August 17th from 2:00-5:00 PM. Merritt volunteered her time for half of the event with Tassinary volunteering for the other half of the time. Latino Fest happening at the end of August was also mentioned as a potential event to table and raise awareness of the commission. Dillard mentioned utilizing volunteers to help with tabling and breaking up the hours. The African Festival is an event happening in September that Dillard suggests the commission table at too. The final event mentioned was the University of Iowa’s Student Fair in September. Dillard volunteered to attend the event and asked for other commissioners to share any events they may hear of in the future for potential tabling opportunities. Dillard suggested acting on the idea of visiting churches to talk more with community members. Both the Iowa City and Coralville Farmer’s Market were noted as places the commission should also attend to increase community engagement. 2 Dillard brought up the previously discussed TRC documentary and the expectations for it. Tassinary mentioned including both the high and low points the commission has faced within the documentary. Kiche mentioned keeping the documentary within budget and creating a potential contract to avoid additional/ unexpected charges. Dillard suggested commissioners mention any specific footage they would like included in the documentary. Tassinary suggested pulling together articles published in local newspapers to provide the documentarian. Johnson asked what the debut would be for the finished documentary. Johnson suggested sitting down with the documentarian to discuss the TRC’s expectations for the film and being sure to all be on the same page. Johnson would like to see Iowa City residents be interviewed with questions of what they enjoy about Iowa City and their concerns with the city. Dillard would like the film to be authentic and to accurately depict the back and forth of the commission’s work to showcase the full journey. Johnson asked if there will be any sort of narration needed for the documentary. Kiche shared he would like transparency in the creation of the documentary so there are no surprises or last-minute changes. Tassinary suggested the documentarian organize the materials in a way that is continuously accessible. There was consensus for the film to highlight the important aspects of the commission’s journey rather than every detail. Kiche raised concerns of the calendar catching up with the commission and the need to act on ideas and outreach efforts. Dillard agreed there is a need to get started on outreach and suggested working with the schedules of those community members they will be meeting with. It was clarified among the commission that the outreach efforts are for the purpose of community engagement and to raise awareness of the commission and their mission. Tassinary raised concerns of the timeline mentioned in the previous meeting. He suggested using the information they have now and some information from upcoming engagement for the report as part of the recommendation for the future section of the report. The possibility of recording during parts of the public engagement was discussed. It was recapped that the commission would like to do more tabling and community outreach. Merritt suggested a question list or conversation engagement points for each commissioner to consider when doing community outreach. Kiche and Dillard discussed what the community engagement conversation should look like. Dillard suggested a personal conversation that allows the community member(s) to speak openly without recording due to unpredictability. It was also suggested that if something of importance arises in these one-on-one conversations to then suggest bringing that information forward in a more formal setting that does not hold the commission liable for what is said or shared. Kiche has community members willing to talk with the commission and will provide dates for when they are available to speak. Dillard confirmed she would work on a calendar for the community events discussed in the meeting along with a poll for dates/availabilities that the commissioners can share with each other. Johnson shared he would like to push for the TRC to be permanent. Tassinary will try to draft the first half of the final report for city council. It would be a summary of the initial report made by the consultants for the commission and their earlier work/research. 3 Kiche questioned the previously discussed idea of getting help with writing the report. It was agreed to follow up with Simmons, who had volunteered to investigate getting potential assistance for the report. Annie Tucker gave suggestions for improvements to the website. Tucker believes there should be more information front and center on the website of what the commission is doing and looking for due to the lack of information currently present. Announcements of commissioners: Kiche shared he attended some of the public meetings on housing needs here in Iowa City. Kiche reported it is a major concern in the community that may align with the commission’s efforts. Johnson reiterated his desire for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to be a permanent commission due to ongoing injustices like the recent incident of police violence leading to the death of Sonya Massey. Announcements of staff: None. The meeting adjourned at 8:29PM. The full meeting video can be viewed at this link. AD HOC TRUTH & RECONCILIATION COMMISSION ATTENDANCE RECORD YEAR 2024 (Meeting Date) NAME TERM EXP. 2/1 2/15 3/7 3/14 3/18 3/20 3/21 4/4 5/2 5/16 6/20 7/18 8/1 Dillard 12/31/24 P P P P P P P P P P P P P Gathua 12/31/24 P P A P P P P P A A Z Z Z Kiche 12/31/24 - P P P P P P P P P P P P Johnson 12/31/24 P P P P P P P P P P P P P Merritt 12/31/24 P P Z P P P P P P A P P P Muhamed 12/31/24 - - - - - - - - - Z Z Z Z Simmons 12/31/24 P P P P P A P Z P P A P A Tassinary 12/31/24 P P P P P P P A P P P A P Rossi 12/31/24 - - - - - - - - - - A Z A P = Present in person A = Absent Z = Zoom Ad Hoc Truth and Reconciliation Commission's Approved Budget for Phases Three and Four Category Amount Description Special Meeting Accommodations (outside of typical TRC business meetings) $5,000 Special meeting accommodations to include food, participation supplies (paper, pens, flip charts, etc.), rental fees, any other expenses to encourage participation and efficient proceedings Community Marketing $2,500 Social media, radio and other marketing outlets to promote TRC mission and encourage participation from a broad representation of the public Special Event Promotion $5,000 Identifiable clothing for TRC Commissioners (e.g. t- shirts, sweatshirts) for representation at community events. Table runners, banners and small promotional items to promote TRC mission and participation Miscellaneous Pilot Programs, Report Writing, Facilitation and Shared Services $7,500 Allows TRC to create and test efforts to help the community move towards reconciliation prior to final recommendations being made. Examples may include book purchases for a small group healing session, contracting with a subject matter expert for a community lecture / community event, etc. Also includes professional assistance activities such as event planning, report writing, research, and documentation of TRC activities. Total $20,000 Approved July 18, 2024